Vietnam has surpassed the likes of Bhutan to rank fifth among a total of 140 countries worldwide in the Happy Planet Index results, coming in second in the Asia-Pacific region.
According to the Happy Planet Index (HPI) as announced by UK-headquartered New Economics Foundation (NEF), Vietnam, which is home to an array of mountains and tropical forests, has a strikingly low Ecological Footprint and economic output per head, almost 24 times smaller than that of Hong Kong (China). Indeed, it is one of just three countries to mark the top 10 of the Happy Planet Index rankings with an Ecological Footprint that is small enough to be considered environmentally sustainable.
The report noted that Vietnam has an impressive average life expectancy. Both Vietnam and the Gambia have similar sized economies with similar levels of GDP per capita, yet on average, people from Vietnam live more than 17 years longer, it said./.