Malta tops the western world and came 40th in the global league table of what is known as the ‘happy planet index’.
The index attempts to measure how well countries use their resources to deliver improved livelihoods and satisfaction. It finds that true happiness can be found in the Pacific island of Vanuatu.
By contrast, the Group of Eight (G8) rich nations, whose leaders meet for their annual summit in St Petersburg this weekend, languish near the bottom of the list.
The host, Russia, comes 172nd out of 178, followed by the United States at 150 and France at 128. The UK comes in 108th – just below Libya but above Laos.
The list appears in a “happy planet index” published by the UK-based New Economics Foundation that attempts to log the progress of nations based on the amount of the earth’s resources they use on the one hand, and the length and happiness of people’s lives on the other.
The NEF has taken official figures on life expectancy and multiplied it by an index based on surveys of people’s happiness in various countries.
The combined figure for life length and satisfaction is then divided by the country’s “ecological footprint” – a measure of the amount of land required to sustain the population and absorb its energy consumption.
As a result, the countries that have historically been beset with widespread poverty and disease languish at the very bottom of the list.
Zimbabwe, where the population is currently coping with inflation above 1,200 per cent, has a life expectancy of 37 years and one of the lowest readings for satisfaction, is the unhappiest country. Its near neighbours Swaziland, Burundi and Congo are not far ahead.
But for the rich countries it is the ecological harm they inflict that offsets any material happiness.
The oil-rich United Arab Emirates (154th) has the heaviest ecological footprint, followed by the US.
At the other extreme Vanuatu, an archipelago of 80 islands in the western Pacific inhabited by less than 250,000 people, has a tiny ecological footprint, reasonable longevity and high life satisfaction – perhaps linked to its unspoilt coastlines and unique rainforests.
“Don’t tell too many people, please,” was the response of Marke Lowen of Vanuatu Online, the country’s on-line newspaper, to the news that Vanuatu had topped the poll. “People are generally happy here because they are very satisfied with very little. This is not a consumer-driven society. Life here is about community and family and goodwill to other people. It’s a place where you don’t worry too much.”
The small population of 200,000 and the lack of aggressive marketing in what is essentially a subsistence economy were other factors which might have elevated the country, formerly known as the New Hebrides, to its top dog status, Mr Lowen suggested yesterday.
“Most people here live day to day,” he said. “The only things we fear are cyclones or occasional earthquakes.” He added that people in Vanuatu considered themselves “caretakers” of the land.