With a score of 44.7, the nation was placed as the happiest of the entire world, followed by Mexico and Colombia, according to the Planet Happiness Index. Costa Rica ranks first worldwide as the happiest country in the world, according to the Happy Planet Index. It is followed respectively by Mexico and Colombia with 40.7 points and 37 points.
On the other hand, the countries of Central America, such as Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Panama and Nicaragua, were positioned in places 26, 65, 17, 6 and 7.
The Index multiplies well-being with life expectancy and in turn this result is multiplied by inequalities and divided by the ecological footprint. “The HPI combines the four elements mentioned above to show that the inhabitants of each country can efficiently use environmental resources to lead long and happy lives,” according to the Planet Happiness Index.
Costa Rica once again topped the Happy Planet Index ranking with a substantial advantage, since it had previously been the first in our 2009 and 2012 editions.
This tropical Central American country is home to the highest species density in the world. Costa Rica’s GDP per capita is less than a quarter the size of many countries in Western Europe and North America, and is based primarily on tourism, agriculture and exports, the index acknowledges.
People living in Costa Rica have greater well-being than residents of many rich nations, including the United States and the United Kingdom, and live longer than people in the United States.
This is how each element is determined:
Well-being: How satisfied residents of each country say they feel about life in general, on a scale of zero to ten, according to data collected as part of the Gallup World Survey.
Life expectancy: The average number of years a person is expected to live in each country based on data collected by the United Nations.
Inequality of results: Inequalities between people within a country, in terms of how long they live and how happy they feel, according to the distribution in the data on life expectancy and well-being of each country. The inequality of results is expressed as a percentage.
Ecological footprint: The average impact that each resident of a country places on the environment, based on data prepared by the Global Footprint Network. The Ecological Footprint is expressed using a standardized unit: global hectares (GHA) per person.
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