Malta is the happiest country in the Western world according to New Economics Foundation (NEF) ‘Happy Planet Index’.
The New Zealand Herald reported that Malta ranked 40th in the global league table and is apparently happier than Russia, France, the United Kingdom and the United States which all ranked under the 100th spot.
The report themed ‘an index of human well-being and environmental impact’, also revealed how it appears that islands fare better than continents and larger countries, with the top five nations in Africa and the top two in Asia being all islands.
The index was published in association with Friends of the Earth, moved beyond ratings of nations according to national income measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Instead the picture of each nation’s happiness was drawn from the progress of nations based on the amount of the Earth’s resources they use, and the length and happiness of people’s lives.
Islands were found to a have higher life satisfaction, higher life expectancy and marginally lower ecological footprints than other states. However incomes by GDP per capita were found to be roughly equal to the world average.
Islands were found to do well even within regions. Malta tops the Western world with Cyprus in seventh place out of 24. NEF speculated that perhaps a more acute awareness of environmental limits has sometimes helped societies on islands to bond better and to adapt to get more from less. It added that combined with the enhanced well-being stemming from close contact with nature, the world as a whole stands to learn much from the experience of islands.
The G8 nations, whose will meet in an annual summit in St Petersburg over the weekend, take up the bottom ranks of the list. In turn, the Pacific island of Vanuatu was found to be the happiest, according to the report.
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