Index. The study compiled data from 151 different countries to measure where people are living

happy, sustainable lives. So, exactly how does one measure happiness, and does living

happily really matter?

The HPI looks at three different factors to determine if people are happy in a certain country.

First, it looks at general well-being, by studying a Gallup World Poll that uses

the “Ladder of Life” method. The poll asks people to rate their life on a scale of 0-10,

with 0 being the worst possible life and 10 being the best. Denmark, Canada and

Norway finished in the top three with Togo coming in last. Then they take that number

and multiply it by each country’s life expectancy using data from a 2011 United Nations study.

Japan has the highest life expectancy at nearly 84 years - almost twice that of Sierra Leone, which has the

lowest at only 47.8 years.

The study also factors in each country's ecological footprint. This statistic is important to

the HPI because it’s directly connected to the sustainability of a country’s happiness

- as a country becomes more polluted and less able to produce resources like food, the less

likely it is that they’ll have a good or long life. To get their final scores, they

take the Ladder of Life average, multiplied by life expectancy, and divide that by the

ecological footprint.

So, that’s how Costa Rica, Vietnam, and Colombia were named the happiest places in

the world to live. But, is this an accurate assessment? Are they happier than other nations?

Well, I guess it depends on how you define happy. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation

and Development declared Australia as the happiest country, based on eleven different

statistics like education, personal security and income. A 2013 report by the UN listed

Denmark at the top, using GDP, life expectancy, and corruption levels - among other things.

Or maybe you judge happiness on topics not being covered, like homicide rates, unemployment

or gun rights.

See, that’s the problem with ranking countries by happiness. Happiness is subjective, and

one that we may not be able to accurately track across all countries. But that obviously

isn’t going to stop anyone from trying. In fact, the UN thinks tracking happiness

is so important that they passed a resolution on it in 2011, saying that countries now need

to start tracking happiness.

And as far as criteria for happiness goes, the Happy Planet Index is pretty simple.

They asked people if they were happy, looked at how long those people were potentially going

to live, and then divided that by how sustainable their environment is. If you feel those are

three important qualifications for being happy, then maybe it’s time to pack your bags and move to Costa Rica.

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