Pakistan among top 20 happiest countries, beating India, US: Report
By Ema Anis
Published: October 3, 2012
KARACHI:
Pakistan ranked 16th among 151 countries of the world on the Happy Planet Index (HPI) 2012, beating India and the United States which ranked 32nd and 105th respectively. Costa Rica was termed the happiest country, followed by Vietnam and Colombia.
The Happy Planet Index was calculated using life expectancy, experienced well-being and ecological footprint (per capita) of the countries with data collected from various sources
including UNDP and Gallup data. The index was compiled by New Economics Foundation (NEF).
The life expectancy and experienced well-being of Pakistan was found to be mediocre, but the ecological footprint was termed good. The total HPI of Pakistan was calculated to be 54.1.
Israel landed just one spot above Pakistan, having good life expectancy and experienced well-being, but a poor ecological footprint.
Bangladesh was higher up on the scale at 11, with the first two factors termed mediocre and the footprint as good.
India was found to have mediocre life expectancy and well-being and a good ecological footprint. However, its total HPI amounted to 50.9.
The only reason why the US scored low was its ecological footprint which was worse than the poor category. The life expectancy and experienced well-being were, however, ranked good.
Afghanistan was ranked 109.
The countries which landed at the bottom of the Happiness Index were mostly from Sub-Saharan Africa.
Denmark ranked the highest on the experienced well-being chart, followed by Canada and Norway.
Togo landed on the bottom of the chart.
On the life expectancy chart, Japan topped the list, followed by Hong Kong and Switzerland, while Sierra Leone gained the last spot.
Afghanistan had the best ecological footprint among all the countries, followed by Haiti and Bangladesh.
The countries with the worst ecological footprint included Qatar, Luxembourg, Kuwait, UAE, Denmark and the US.
Pakistan among top 20 happiest countries, beating India, US: Report The Express Tribune
Pakistan | Happy Planet Index