According to a recent study conducted by the (NEF) New Economics Foundation, Panama was ranked the 5th happiest of 178 countries. Interestingly enough, the United States came in 150th and Canada slightly better at 111th.
NEF's new global measure of progress, the 'Happy Planet Index', reveals for the first time that happiness doesn't have to cost the Earth. It shows that people can live long, happy lives without using more than their fair share of the Earth's resources. The new international ranking of the environmental impact and well-being reveals a very different picture of the wealth, and poverty, of nations.
The New Economics Foundation report, 'The Happy Planet Index: An index of human well-being and environmental impact', moves beyond crude ratings of nations according to national income, measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to produce a more accurate picture of the progress of nations based on the amount of the Earth's resources they use, and the length and happiness of people's lives.
The Happy Planet Index (HPI) strips the view of the economy back to its absolute basics: what we put in (resources), and what comes out (human lives of different length and happiness).
Island nations score well above average in the index. They have a higher life satisfaction, higher life expectancy and marginally lower ecological footprint than other states. Yet their income, in GDP per capita terms is roughly equal to the world average.
Central America is the region with the highest average score in the index. This is because the region combines relatively good life expectancy (a mean of 70 years) and a high life satisfaction with an ecological foot print below it globally equitable share. Central America has had a notorious history of conflict and political instability, but in the last 15 years have been relatively peaceful which perhaps together with traditionally high levels of community engagement, explain its success.