The National Happiness rate represents an aggregated economic indicator derived from the calculation of Gross Domestic Happiness (GDH). In the early 1970s, the Fourth King of Bhutan, a small country in the Himalayas, introduced the GNH as an alternative to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to measure progress and wellbeing. The 2021 World Happiness Report features Finland, Iceland, and Denmark as the ‘happiest’ countries. Interestingly, the United States, the country with the highest GDP in the world, was ranked 14th. This article defines GNH, highlights some of the ‘happiest’ countries, and presents ways to improve National Happiness rates.
What is Gross National Happiness?
The concept of Gross National Happiness or Gross Domestic Happiness was first promulgated by His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the Fourth King of Bhutan, in the early 1970s. Bhutan is a landlocked country in the Eastern Himalayas with a population of about 780,000. Besides its majestic views and conservative lifestyle, Bhutan is also known for being the first country in the world to officially measure national happiness. Since then, other countries have copied this approach including the United Nations which later contributed to the development of the World Happiness Report.
The rationale for introducing the GNH as an alternative tool to Gross Domestic Product to measure progress and wellbeing is reflected in the fact that the former measures the quality of growth more holistically. GDP, on the other hand, is not suited to capture the wellbeing of a society as it cannot differentiate between the positive or negative effects created in the process of production nor can it differentiate between sustainable and unsustainable growth.
See also: Gross National Happiness: an alternative way to measure progress?
What is the Gross National Happiness Index?
The Gross National Happiness Index is a framework used for the holistic measurement of traditional areas of socio-economic progress such as living standards, health, and education as well as less traditional aspects such as cultural, spiritual, and psychological wellbeing.
The GNH index represents a single number developed based on the aggregation of 33 indicators categorized under nine domains. The index was designed to guide social change and enhance individual happiness, community wellbeing, social justice, economic equality, and environmental sustainability.
World Happiness Report
To track the level of happiness among nations, a World Happiness Report is issued on an annual basis by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network that ranks countries based on the perceived rates of national happiness. The measurement of subjective wellbeing is derived from the results of surveys through which respondents rate their own lives in terms of living evaluation, positive emotions, and negative emotions.
The typical annual sample for each country is 1,000 people but this may be as high as 3,000 people.
The 2021 World Happiness Report places Finland at the very top of the list with a score of 7.889, followed by Iceland (7.575), Denmark (7.515), Switzerland (7.508), and the Netherlands (7.508). In contrast, Zimbabwe (3.160), Tanzania (3.786), and Jordan (4.094) scored the least in the ranking of happiness. Interestingly, the United States, the country with the highest GDP in the world, was ranked only 14th in this report.
Ways to improve the National Happiness rate
Increasing happiness is a subjective concern for citizens and a policy concern for civil servants and community leaders. In this context, the GNH Index proves a useful tool that can help all parties to reach high rates of National Happiness both holistically and practically.
First of all, to increase the happiness rates governments have to identify the relevant social segments that consider themselves to be unhappy. Once identified, it is important to learn about the causes that lead to unhappiness and take steps to address these. Such causes may relate to income poverty, material poverty (e.g., the inability of individuals or households to afford consumption goods and activities), psychological/physiological problems, and environmental insufficiencies.
The introduction of the Gross National Happiness by the Bhutanese authorities initially had a disruptive impact on the global methodology to measure progress and wellbeing. Since then, many stakeholders have voiced the need to move from a GDP-focused measurement to a more holistic approach. In this context, the GNH can serve as the starting point for the world to evolve a new paradigm to measure economic progress.
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