WEALTH is not a guarantee to happiness.
Or so it seems as the Happy Planet Index (HPI) report of the UK-based New Economics Foundation (NEF) recently ranked Costa Rica the happiest place in the world followed by Mexico (2nd) and Colombia (3rd).
The Philippines landed on the 20th slot.
But what do Costa Rica, Mexico, Colombia and the Philippines have in common? They continue to face the ubiquitous problem of illegal drugs – coke, cracked cocaine, crystal met, marijuana. Whether it’s for medical or recreational purposes, users have to contend with the laws of each country whose laws against illegal drugs differ.
In Costa Rica, drug tourism has allegedly become a fad amid the non-enforcement of laws against illegal drugs. Like Amsterdam, Costa Rica is reportedly gaining some fame in recreational drugs. Mexico, Colombia and most recently the Philippines are on the edge of a protracted war against drug cartels.
The HPI was obtained by considering the well-being (where residents were asked on how they feel about life overall, on a scale from zero to ten); life expectancy (average number of years a person in each country is expected to live); inequality of outcomes (“the inequalities between people within a country, in terms of how long they live, and how happy they feel”); and ecological footprint of the citizens of the country.
The Philippines got a 5 in terms of well-being, an ecological footprint of 1.1 global hectares per person and 26 percent in the inequality of outcomes.
United Nations data said that the life expectancy of Filipinos is at 67.9 years.
The HPI report for 2016 included 140 countries.
The NEF is the UK’s leading think tank promoting social, economic and environmental justice with aim to transform the economy so that it works for people and the planet.
“The UK and most of the world’s economies are increasingly unsustainable, unfair and unstable. It is not even making us any happier – many of the richest countries in the world do not have the highest wellbeing,” NEF indicated in its website.
Rank | Country | Score
1st COSTA RICA 44.7
2nd MEXICO 40.7
3rd COLOMBIA 40.7
4th VANUATU 40.6
5th VIETNAM 40.3
6th PANAMA 39.5
7th NICARAGUA 38.7
8th BANGLADESH 38.4
9th THAILAND 37.3
10th ECUADOR 37.0
11th JAMAICA 36.9
12th NORWAY 36.8
13th ALBANIA 36.8
14th URUGUAY 36.1
15th SPAIN 36.0
16th INDONESIA 35.7
17th EL SALVADOR 35.6
18th NETHERLANDS 35.3
19th ARGENTINA 35.2
20th PHILIPPINES 35.0