Top Five Happiest Countries in The World (2011)

Which countries do you think are the happiest? (Wikipedia image)

There is a profound interest these days in how happy countries and their people are. Generally, the measurement of happiness involves how much money is earned by the people and how are good the services provided by their government. But these benchmarks of happiness, although still popular and used for demographic data, are being questions for their actual capacity to establish how happy the world’s countries are. The Happy Planet Index (HPI) is challenging the old notions and has come up with a map that shows the world based on its own standards of happiness.

But let’s go back for now to the top five (actually there are more than five) happy countries list in 2011. According to the latest list reported in 2011, the top five happiest countries in the world are the following:

Norway – has the world’s highest per capita GDP ($53,000 a year)

Denmark – has the world’s lowest business start up costs

Finland – a bastion of excellence in education

Australia – a trusted government

New Zealand – known for it’s beauty

Based on surveys, it’s been established that these countries have one thing in common – the people trust their government. But it’s not only about the leadership, it’s also about having a beautiful country, ease in doing business, and freedom. Do you agree?

If those are the criteria in choosing the happiest countries, what does this say about happiness? How will we define happiness then? Is it just about having a trusted government to take care of you? Is it just about the availability of opportunities in terms of money-making? Is it just about being able to do what you want within the limits imposed by the law?

Do you live in one of these top five happiest countries? If you do, you can share your thoughts here as to why people are happy there.

Now let’s go back to the HPI version of country-happiness. Shown below is the Happy Planet Index (HPI) map. It is basically an index of human well-being and environmental impact and introduced by the New Economic Foundation which has an unorthodox approach to measuring happiness. It goes against the well-accepted notions that a country’s development is measured by its gross domestic product or GDP and the human development index or HDI. 

The HIP was established around the belief that the ultimate aim of people is not to become rich, but instead, to be happy and healthy. It’s controversial and open to criticism, but it is based on general utilitarian principles which takes the people’s wishes to live long and fulfilled wherever they may be. Based on this view, the countries which allow its people to achieve such goals without stepping on the opportunities of future generations and those of other people, are the happiest of countries.

The Happy Planet Index map which challenges the usual criteria of establishing which countries are happiest. (Wikipedia image)

In the Happy Planet Index map, the countries ranked on top are colored green while the lowest are brown. What do you think about this approach? Do you really believe this map is the correct reflection of happiness around the world? What is your opinion?

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