This tropical chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean has high levels of wellbeing and a relatively low Ecological Footprint, due to a culture of strong social connections, no military, and significant use of renewable energy. People living in Vanuatu have higher wellbeing than those living in Japan, while Vanuatu’s Ecological Footprint is just a third of the size of Japan’s. While Vanuatu performs well on the Happy Planet Index, like many island nations, it is highly vulnerable to tropical cyclones and typhoons, a problem likely to be exacerbated by climate change.
Human rights abuses are a problem in most of the world, including in some of the high-ranking countries in the Happy Planet Index results. While the Happy Planet Index may reflect some of the negative impacts of these abuses, it does not seek to directly measure this. For more information about human rights in this country, visit Amnesty International.
This graph maps the results of the country’s Happy Planet Index and component measures over time, including goals for attainable results in 2030. Learn more about how the Happy Planet Index is calculated.
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