How we calculated your HPI score
Like the HPI scores we have calculated for countries, your HPI score is based on three data points:
- Your self-reported wellbeing
- Your estimated life expectancy
- Your carbon footprint
Self-reported wellbeing
This is based on your answer to the question “Overall, how satisfied are you with your life nowadays?” This question is widely seen as the best overall measure of subjective wellbeing, recommended by the OECD and used in many national surveys.
However, because the HPI uses data on a different question (called the ladder of life scale), we estimate a score for you for that question so that your HPI score is comparable with country-level scores. See the HPI methodology for a discussion of why the ladder of life is used, and what the implications are.
We also ask some questions on behaviours that can improve wellbeing. These are based on the Five Ways to Wellbeing, which are a set of five behaviours (endorsed for example by the UK National Health Service) which individuals can participate in, and for which there is evidence of a relationship with positive wellbeing outcomes. Your answers to these questions are not used to calculate your self-reported wellbeing score, but they are reported in the wellbeing box on the left.
Want to learn more about wellbeing? Several of the question we have asked come from the Centre for Thriving Places’ Happiness Pulse, which you can complete online for free.
Estimated life expectancy
We estimate life expectancy based on your responses to the questions on the following:
- Whether you live alone
- Your diet
- Alcohol consumption and smoking
- Physical activity
- Social life and volunteering
- How much you travel by car, walk or cycle
- Where you live
- How old you are now
All the effects we have included are based on academic studies or on other life expectancy calculators (full reference list).
But please note that this is only an estimate, and even the best estimates of life expectancy can be completely inaccurate. One of the best predictors of life expectancy is family history of congenital conditions, and we have not asked any questions about them in this survey.
Carbon footprint
We estimate you carbon footprint based on your responses to questions on the following:
- Where you live
- Living space in your home (i.e. metres squared per person)
- The kind of electricity and heating you use
- How much you travel and how
- Shopping habits
- Diet
The carbon footprint calculator is based on the Lifestyle Test, which was developed as part of the Horizon project PS Lifestyle. Because the Lifestyle Test is designed predominantly for EU countries, further data needed to be sourced to ensure the tool is suitable for countries around the world. This was particularly relevant for emissions associated with heating and electricity. For this, we sourced electricity consumption and carbon intensity from the IEA.
Putting it all together
The three components are combined to create an overall HPI score similar to the country-level HPI calculations, using the following formula:
The thresholds for colour-coding the three components are approximately the same as in the main HPI calculations:
| Life Expectancy | Ladder of Life (Wellbeing) | Carbon Footprint |
| Less than 65 years | Less than 5/10 | Approximately within fair consumption space (less than 3.2 tCO2e per year) |
| 65 – 75 years | 5/10 – 6/10 | Between 3.2 and 6.4 tCO2e per year |
| 75 years or more | 6/10 or more | Between 6.4 and 16 tCO2e per year |
| Over 16 tCO2e per year |
Your ‘closest’ country was chosen based on three criteria:
- Your carbon footprint
- Your overall adjusted Happy Life Years score (based on your estimated life expectancy and self-reported wellbeing)
- Whether you scored relatively better on life expectancy than self-reported wellbeing, or vice versa