Which country has the highest Happy Planet Index Score?

Vanuatu has the highest Happy Planet Index Score in 2021, at 57.9, followed by Sweden (55.9) and El Salvador (54.7).

Which country has the lowest Happy Planet Index Score?

Central African Republic has the lowest Happy Planet Index Score in 2021, at 13.7.

What is the median Happy Planet Index Score across countries?

The median is 38.6 across the 147 countries with data in 2021.

Where does this happy planet index by country data come from?

Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: Happy Planet Index - Wellbeing Economy Alliance; Happy Planet Index - Wiki; How Happy is the Planet? - Happy Planet Index.

Country rankings

Happy Planet Index by Country

Name: Happy Planet Index by Country
Creator: Rankodex

Vanuatu has the highest Happy Planet Index Score in 2021 (57.9), followed by Sweden (55.9) and El Salvador (54.7). Central African Republic has the lowest (13.7).

Culture151 countries · 4 metricsUpdated Jan 20, 2025Original page

3 sources

Showing

Year

147 of 235 countries

Compare this metric Add to combined ranking Open full map

Happy Planet Index Score, 2021

Darker green is better (higher is better). Click a place to highlight it.

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Ranking

Best first: the first 15 and last 5 of 147 countries.

Distribution Median and middle halfThe median is the middle value: half of places are above it, half below. The middle half is the range holding the central 50% of places.More in the glossary →

Each dot is one country; the lines mark the median and the middle half.

Median

38.6

Middle half 30.0 – 45.3

Average

37.3

147 countries

Highest

57.9

Vanuatu

Lowest

13.7

Central African Republic

Biggest changes · 2019 → 2021

144 countries have a value in both years.

Improved most

Declined most

Data

Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.

149 countries · # = rank by Happy Planet Index Score

#
1	Vanuatu	57.9	70.4	7.1	2.62 tCO2e
2	Sweden	55.9	83.0	7.4	8.7 tCO2e
3	El Salvador	54.7	70.7	6.4	2.03 tCO2e
4	Costa Rica	54.1	77.0	6.4	4.37 tCO2e
5	Nicaragua	53.6	73.8	6.1	2.61 tCO2e
6	Spain	53.0	83.0	6.5	7.12 tCO2e
6	Denmark	53.0	81.4	7.7	10.04 tCO2e
8	France	52.0	82.5	6.7	7.91 tCO2e
8	Panama	52.0	76.2	6.6	5.24 tCO2e
10	Chile	51.3	78.9	6.4	6.2 tCO2e
11	Portugal	51.0	81.0	6.2	6.36 tCO2e
12	Moldova	50.9	68.8	6.0	1.29 tCO2e
13	Honduras	50.8	70.1	6.1	2.19 tCO2e
14	Netherlands	50.7	81.7	7.3	10.11 tCO2e
15	Norway	50.5	83.2	7.4	11.02 tCO2e
16	Guatemala	50.4	69.2	6.3	2.47 tCO2e
17	Finland	49.8	82.0	7.8	12.19 tCO2e
18	Italy	49.6	82.9	6.5	8.49 tCO2e
19	United Kingdom	49.5	80.7	6.9	8.94 tCO2e
20	Romania	49.4	74.2	6.6	5.42 tCO2e
21	Philippines	49.0	69.3	6.0	2.08 tCO2e
22	Israel	48.6	82.3	7.6	12.25 tCO2e
23	Greece	48.3	80.1	6.1	6.89 tCO2e
24	Slovenia	48.1	80.7	6.8	9.26 tCO2e
25	Thailand	48.0	78.7	5.6	5.05 tCO2e
25	Croatia	48.0	77.6	6.3	6.58 tCO2e
27	Tajikistan	47.8	71.6	5.3	1.48 tCO2e
28	Ireland	47.7	82.0	6.8	10.21 tCO2e
29	Algeria	47.4	76.4	5.2	3.11 tCO2e
30	Dominican Republic	47.3	72.6	6.0	4.13 tCO2e
31	Peru	47.0	72.4	5.7	3.19 tCO2e
32	Czechia	46.8	77.7	6.9	9.23 tCO2e
33	Albania	46.3	76.5	5.3	3.67 tCO2e
34	Brazil	46.2	72.8	6.0	4.59 tCO2e
35	Germany	45.7	80.6	6.8	10.44 tCO2e
36	Vietnam	45.5	73.6	5.5	3.79 tCO2e
37	Morocco	45.3	74.0	5.3	3.38 tCO2e
37	Austria	45.3	81.6	7.1	12.15 tCO2e
39	Ecuador	44.7	73.7	5.4	3.82 tCO2e
40	Jamaica	44.5	70.5	5.8	3.78 tCO2e
41	Argentina	43.8	75.4	5.9	6.39 tCO2e
42	New Zealand	43.4	82.5	7.1	13.91 tCO2e
43	Mexico	43.3	70.2	6.0	4.69 tCO2e
44	Uzbekistan	43.0	70.9	6.2	5.69 tCO2e
44	Armenia	43.0	72.0	5.3	3.43 tCO2e
46	Colombia	42.9	72.8	5.3	3.74 tCO2e
46	Hungary	42.9	74.5	6.2	7.46 tCO2e
46	Switzerland	42.9	84.0	7.3	15.7 tCO2e
49	Japan	42.7	84.8	6.1	11.66 tCO2e
50	Bhutan	42.3	71.8	5.2	3.29 tCO2e
51	China	41.9	78.2	5.9	8.38 tCO2e
52	North Macedonia	41.7	73.8	5.5	5.49 tCO2e
53	Kyrgyzstan	41.4	70.0	5.6	4.09 tCO2e
54	Taiwan	41.2	81.0	6.3	11.43 tCO2e
55	Slovakia	41.0	74.9	6.4	9.34 tCO2e
55	Lithuania	41.0	73.7	6.9	10.27 tCO2e
57	Sri Lanka	40.4	76.4	4.1	2.18 tCO2e
58	Poland	40.3	76.5	6.0	8.89 tCO2e
58	Iceland	40.3	82.7	7.6	17.82 tCO2e
60	Indonesia	40.1	67.6	5.4	3.19 tCO2e
61	Mauritius	40.0	73.6	6.0	7.65 tCO2e
62	Uruguay	39.9	75.4	6.5	10.51 tCO2e
62	Bahrain	39.9	78.8	6.5	12.14 tCO2e
64	Bosnia and Herzegovina	39.8	75.3	5.8	7.85 tCO2e
65	Senegal	39.7	67.1	4.9	1.47 tCO2e
66	Australia	39.5	84.5	7.1	17.7 tCO2e
67	Malta	39.3	83.8	6.4	14.82 tCO2e
68	Bangladesh	39.2	72.4	4.1	1.22 tCO2e
69	Malaysia	39.1	74.9	6.0	8.97 tCO2e
69	Latvia	39.1	73.6	6.4	9.58 tCO2e
71	Libya	39.0	71.9	5.5	5.89 tCO2e
72	Belgium	38.9	81.9	6.9	15.84 tCO2e
73	Belarus	38.7	72.4	5.6	6.59 tCO2e
74	Tunisia	38.6	73.8	4.5	3.33 tCO2e
75	Estonia	38.3	77.1	6.6	12.59 tCO2e
76	South Korea	38.0	83.7	6.1	14.39 tCO2e
77	Bulgaria	37.5	71.8	5.4	6.34 tCO2e
78	Nepal	37.4	68.5	4.6	2.09 tCO2e
79	Canada	37.2	82.7	6.9	17.87 tCO2e
79	Georgia	37.2	71.7	4.9	4.59 tCO2e
81	Ukraine	36.4	71.6	5.3	6.45 tCO2e
81	Cyprus	36.4	81.2	6.3	14.96 tCO2e
83	Cambodia	36.3	69.6	4.6	2.8 tCO2e
84	Montenegro	35.5	76.3	5.4	9.59 tCO2e
85	Republic of the Congo	35.2	63.5	4.9	1.84 tCO2e
86	Serbia	35.0	74.2	6.3	12.28 tCO2e
87	Azerbaijan	34.4	69.4	5.2	6.1 tCO2e
87	Gabon	34.4	65.8	5.1	3.87 tCO2e
89	Ethiopia	34.0	65.0	4.1	0.2 tCO2e
90	Paraguay	33.9	70.3	5.6	8.27 tCO2e
91	Turkey	33.8	76.0	4.4	6.27 tCO2e
92	Pakistan	33.7	66.1	4.5	2.23 tCO2e
93	Iraq	33.4	70.4	5.1	6.79 tCO2e
93	Cameroon	33.4	60.3	5.0	1.3 tCO2e
95	Mozambique	33.2	59.3	5.2	1.6 tCO2e
96	Ghana	32.9	63.8	4.4	1.13 tCO2e
97	Jordan	32.8	74.3	3.9	4.11 tCO2e
98	Venezuela	32.7	70.6	5.1	7.37 tCO2e
99	Mauritania	32.4	64.4	4.5	2.08 tCO2e
100	Ivory Coast	32.3	58.6	5.1	1.23 tCO2e
101	Egypt	32.2	70.2	4.0	3.14 tCO2e
102	United States	32.1	77.2	7.0	19.59 tCO2e
102	Bolivia	32.1	63.6	5.6	5.88 tCO2e
104	Myanmar	31.6	65.7	4.3	2.46 tCO2e
105	Guinea	30.9	58.9	4.9	1.7 tCO2e
106	Kenya	30.7	61.4	4.5	1.36 tCO2e
106	Uganda	30.7	62.7	4.2	1.08 tCO2e
108	Niger	30.6	61.6	4.4	1.11 tCO2e
109	Singapore	30.5	82.8	6.6	23.24 tCO2e
110	Laos	30.2	68.1	4.9	6.98 tCO2e
111	Madagascar	29.8	64.5	3.9	1.08 tCO2e
112	Kazakhstan	29.4	69.4	6.3	14.22 tCO2e
113	South Africa	29.3	62.3	5.6	7.08 tCO2e
113	Saudi Arabia	29.3	76.9	6.5	20.16 tCO2e
115	Iran	29.0	73.9	4.8	10.5 tCO2e
116	Benin	28.9	59.8	4.5	1.55 tCO2e
117	Tanzania	28.8	66.2	3.7	1.61 tCO2e
117	Burkina Faso	28.8	59.3	4.6	1.87 tCO2e
119	Liberia	28.6	60.7	4.1	0.48 tCO2e
120	Rwanda	28.1	66.1	3.4	0.7 tCO2e
121	India	27.8	67.2	3.6	2.1 tCO2e
121	Russia	27.8	69.4	5.5	12.09 tCO2e
123	Haiti	27.5	63.2	3.8	1.33 tCO2e
124	Malawi	27.0	62.9	3.6	0.69 tCO2e
125	Yemen	26.6	63.8	3.6	1.38 tCO2e
126	United Arab Emirates	26.4	78.7	6.7	26.78 tCO2e
127	Togo	26.3	61.6	4.0	2.16 tCO2e
127	Hong Kong	26.3	85.5	5.3	23.5 tCO2e
129	Turkmenistan	25.6	69.3	5.5	14.23 tCO2e
130	DR Congo	24.9	59.2	3.8	0.57 tCO2e
130	Trinidad and Tobago	24.9	73.0	6.2	21.81 tCO2e
132	Sierra Leone	24.6	60.1	3.7	0.89 tCO2e
132	Luxembourg	24.6	82.6	7.1	34.91 tCO2e
134	Kuwait	23.2	78.7	6.2	28.84 tCO2e
135	Mali	22.2	58.9	4.1	3.76 tCO2e
136	Namibia	21.8	59.3	4.5	6.22 tCO2e
137	Nigeria	21.6	52.7	4.5	1.55 tCO2e
138	Mongolia	20.4	71.0	5.7	24.67 tCO2e
139	Zimbabwe	19.7	59.3	3.2	0.82 tCO2e
140	Lebanon	19.2	75.0	2.2	4.91 tCO2e
141	Zambia	19.1	61.2	3.1	2.23 tCO2e
142	Qatar	18.8	79.3	6.5	42.2 tCO2e
143	Chad	18.3	52.5	4.4	3.88 tCO2e
144	Afghanistan	16.2	62.0	2.4	1.14 tCO2e
145	Lesotho	15.6	53.1	3.7	3.04 tCO2e
146	Botswana	14.7	61.1	3.5	10.28 tCO2e
147	Central African Republic	13.7	53.9	3.1	1.83 tCO2e
—	Sudan	—	65.3	—	0.87 tCO2e
—	Burundi	—	61.7	—	0.65 tCO2e

What correlates with Happy Planet Index Score (2021)?

Pearson r against 1,548 other country metrics sharing at least 89 countries. Ranks are read by standing: a better rank counts as higher, whether rank 1 is the best place on a list or the worst. Correlation is not causation.

Higher together

Places that have a higher Happy Planet Index Score tend to score higher on these (or rank better)

World Happiness ScoreHappiest Countries in the World
r = +0.67 · strong · n = 137
Plot
Homophobic Climate Index Rank (UN)Most Homophobic CountriesA rank: rank 1 is the worst
r = +0.66 · strong · n = 140
Plot
Life ExpectancyPast Life Expectancy by Country
r = +0.64 · strong · n = 147
Plot
World Happiness RankHappiest Countries in the WorldA rank: rank 1 is the best
r = −0.64 · strong · n = 137
Plot
LPI Health ScoreBest Healthcare in the World
r = +0.63 · strong · n = 145
Plot
Global Food Security Index (GFSI) ScoreFood Self Sufficiency Rate by Country
r = +0.62 · strong · n = 108
Plot

Opposite directions

Places that have a higher Happy Planet Index Score tend to score lower on these (or rank worse)

Infant Deaths per 1,000 BirthsHealth Indicators by Country (World Bank)
r = −0.61 · strong · n = 145
Plot
% of Pop. Living on Less Than $3.65 USD/DayPoverty Rate by Country
r = −0.60 · strong · n = 131
Plot
Infant Mortality RateInfant Mortality Rate by Country
r = −0.60 · strong · n = 145
Plot
Infant Mortality Rate CIAInfant Mortality Rate by Country
r = −0.58 · strong · n = 147
Plot
Neonatal Mortality RateNeonatal Mortality Rate by Country
r = −0.58 · strong · n = 144
Plot
Economic InequalityFailed States
r = −0.58 · strong · n = 143
Plot

Quick answers

Which country has the highest Happy Planet Index Score?: Vanuatu has the highest Happy Planet Index Score in 2021, at 57.9, followed by Sweden (55.9) and El Salvador (54.7).
Which country has the lowest Happy Planet Index Score?: Central African Republic has the lowest Happy Planet Index Score in 2021, at 13.7.
What is the median Happy Planet Index Score across countries?: The median is 38.6 across the 147 countries with data in 2021.
Where does this happy planet index by country data come from?: Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: Happy Planet Index - Wellbeing Economy Alliance; Happy Planet Index - Wiki; How Happy is the Planet? - Happy Planet Index.