Measures of Happiness and Wellbeing

Who are the happiest people in the world? In what countries do we find the highest life satisfaction? These are different questions, with different answers. Cheery contentment (hedonic happiness) is not the same as long-term wellbeing (eudaimonia), as I argue in The Good Life.

Martin Seligman, in his book Flourish, writes that "Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala, and the other Latin American countries are a lot happier than they should be given their low gross domestic product." High GDP might not guarantee happiness or wellbeing--but it also doesn't hurt as a comilations of wellbeing indices assembled by Korn Ferry shows:  

World Database of Happiness Top Ten:

1.     Costa Rica

2.     Denmark

3.     Iceland

4.     Switzerland

5.     Finland

6.     Mexico

7.     Norway

8.     Canada

9.     Panama

10.  Sweden

The Legatum Prosperity Index

1.     Costa Rica

2.     Denmark

3.     Iceland

4.     Switzerland

5.     Norway

6.     Finland

7.     Mexico

8.     Sweden

9.     Canada

10.  Panama

 

The Legatum Prosperity Index

1.     Costa Rica

2.     Denmark

3.     Iceland

4.     Switzerland

5.     Norway

6.     Finland

7.     Mexico

8.     Sweden

9.     Canada

10.  Panama

And Gallup has a new "Positive Experience Index" (measuring the occurrence of certain positive experiences the previous day) that tilts heavily Latin America:
 

Gallup’s Positive Experience Index

1.     Paraguay

2.     Panama

3.     Guatemala

4.     Nicaragua

5.     Ecuador

6.     Costa Rica

7.     Colombia

8.     Denmark

9.     Honduras

10.  Venezuela

11.  El Salvador