Happy Planet Index (HPI)-Islands are homes of happy people |28 July 2006
The Seychellois are the second happiest people in Africa after Sao Tome and Principe, another island nation, according to the HPI designed by the British think-tank New Economics Foundation (NEF).
People in Seychelles are 30th on the HPI happiness list of 178 countries.
The index, published on 25th July 2006, is based on consumption levels, life expectancy and happiness, rather than national economic wealth measurements such as GDP. HPI addresses the relative success or failure of countries in supporting good life for their citizens whilst respecting the environmental resource limits upon which all lives depend.
The HPI lists Vanuatu, a south Pacific island archipelago, as the happiest nation on Earth.. Vanuatu has a population of 209,000, a GDP per capita of $2,900 and an economy of agriculture and tourism.
One of the authors of the survey, NEF’s Nic Marks, said the aim of the index was to show that well-being did not have to be linked to high levels of consumption.
NEF is introducing HPI as an innovative new measure that shows the ecological efficiency with which human well-being is delivered.
“It is clear that no single nation listed in the index has got everything right, but it does reveal patterns that show how we might better achieve long and happy lives for all while living within our environmental means,” Marks explained.
Island nations on the HPI have a much better average score than that for all nations. The average score for islands is 54.0 compared to the 40.9 for all nations. Islands have a higher life satisfaction, life expectancy and marginally lower ecological footprints than other states. Yet their GDP is roughly equivalent to the world average.
The island of Malta in the Mediterranean is the happiest country in the western world. The top five in Africa are island nations, two of the top four in Asia are also islands. The island state of Bahrain has the best score in the Gulf area.
NEF pointed out that while living on islands, it is impossible to be removed from nature, as happens in large urban areas. This may lead societies to develop more culturally ingrained notions of environmental stewardship.
“It is also possible that the high cost of importing goods to geographically remote islands has a restraining effect on personal consumption thereby restricting the spread of materialistic values,” said the NEF report.
Geographical isolation may also insulate populations from mainland political turbulence and conflicts the presence of which is known to seriously undermine well-being.
“Whilst some of the points may be speculative, we can conclude one thing with certainty: if it were possible for the rest of the world to emulate the higher-than-average life expectancy and life satisfaction of people living in island nations, and to follow the lead at their lower-than-average footprint, the world would be a better place,” added the NEF report.
Latin American countries dominate the top 10 places in the index, while African and Eastern European nations fill most of the bottom 10.
Among the world’s largest economies, Germany is ranked 81st, Japan 95th, the United Kingdom 108th, while the United States of America comes in at 150th on the HPI.
Richard Laylard, director of the Well-Being Programme at the London School of Economics’ Centre for Economic Performance, said that the index was an interesting way to tackle the issue of modern life’s environmental impact.
“It reminds us that it is not good enough to be happy today if we are impoverishing future generations through global warming. Over the last 50 years, living standards in the West have improved enormously but we have become no happier,” said Laylard.
Philosophers and psychologists have been claiming that experiences fulfill us more than material goods.
Seychelles scores:
Life satisfaction = 7.4
Life expectancy = 72.7
Ecological footprint = 2.6
HPI = 56.1