Dhaka: Bangladesh ranked eighth among 140 countries globally in the Happy Planet Index 2016.

The ranking recently released by the New Economics Foundation, a British think-tank, put Bangladesh far ahead of other countries in the region, with a total score of 38.4 in the index.

In its 2016 edition, the study stated: ‘Bangladesh has made substantial progress over the past 25 years in terms of human development. In 2014, Bangladesh was in the top 10 countries worldwide employing people in the renewable energy sector, a necessary effort given the country’s particular vulnerability to climate change.’

‘The life expectancy in Bangladesh is almost 20 years higher than in Zimbabwe - despite having a similar GDP per capita. This is a country that’s achieving a lot with limited resources,’ added the survey.

About the HPI

The Happy Planet Index measures what matters: sustainable wellbeing for all. It tells the world how well nations are doing at attaining long, happy, sustainable lives.

The Happy Planet Index provides a compass to guide nations, and shows that it is possible to live good lives without costing the Earth.

The formula goes something like this: take the well-being and longevity of a population, measure how equally both are distributed, then set the result against each country’s ecological footprint.