Philippines among the “happiest places on Earth” 2016

MANILA, Philippines - Welcome to the 20th happiest place on earth. According to a report released by the New Economic Foundation (NEF), a think tank organization based in UK, the Philippines acquired a 35.0 score and ranked 20th among the 140 countries in terms of providing happiness to its citizens.

Photo Credit: Let's Go Philippines

The top three happiest countries were Colombia and Mexico, both with a score of 40.7 and lording over the list is Costa Rica at 44.7.

Among its contemporaries within the ASEAN region, the Philippines ranked fourth behind Vietnam (5th), Thailand (9th) and Indonesia (16th).

According to New Economic Foundation, the Philippines is the 20th happiest place on Earth for this year.Photo credit: Happy Planet Index online

See the list below for the rankings of the top 20 happiest countries according to NEF:

Rank | Country | Score

1st COSTA RICA 44.7
2nd MEXICO 40.7
3rd COLOMBIA 40.7
4th VANUATU 40.6
5th VIETNAM 40.3
6th PANAMA 39.5
7th NICARAGUA 38.7
8th BANGLADESH 38.4
9th THAILAND 37.3
10th ECUADOR 37.0
11th JAMAICA 36.9
12th NORWAY 36.8
13th ALBANIA 36.8
14th URUGUAY 36.1
15th SPAIN 36.0
16th INDONESIA 35.7
17th EL SALVADOR 35.6
18th NETHERLANDS 35.3
19th ARGENTINA 35.2
20th PHILIPPINES 35.0

The Happy Planet Index Report 2016 based the calculation of the scores through the average life expectancy, well-being, ecological footprint and on inequality of income among people.

-- Michael Santiago, The Summit Express