In the meantime, the Philippines ranks 17^th, Indonesia 23^rd, China 31^st, Thailand 32^nd, Malaysia 44^th and Singapore 141^st.

The South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu with a population of 209,000 people and an agriculture and tourism-based economy is selected to be the happiest place on the planet. .

The happy index of the world’s largest economies - the G8 – is very low with the UK ranking 108^th, Italy 66th, Germany 81^st, Japan 95th, Canada 111th, France 129th, United States 150th and Russia 172nd.

The report showed that people could live long, happy lives without consuming large amounts of the Earth's resources. It also warned of the impact of modern life on the environment, requiring each country to make a greater effort to ensure people’s quality of life within their environmental limits.

The Happy Planet Index is formulated by three factors: life expectancy, human well-being and damage done via a country's "environmental footprint".