Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness Index

The GNH index was created using the Alkire Foster method for multidimensional measurement. Read more about this method here.

The phrase ‘gross national happiness’ was first coined by the 4th King of Bhutan, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, in 1972 when he declared, “Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross Domestic Product.” Since then the idea of Gross National Happiness influenced Bhutan’s economic and social policy, and also captured the imagination of others beyond its borders.

Bhutan wanted to create a measurement tool that would be useful for policymaking and resource allocation using data gathered through a survey of a sample of individuals across the country. To accomplish this, the Centre for Bhutan Studies worked with OPHI to apply the Alkire Foster method to create the Gross National Happiness (GNH) index.

In 2008, the Government of Bhutan launched the quantitative GNH index to measure the nation’s wellbeing directly and in a theoretically sound way. The index has been designed to fulfil various criteria which are needed for an annual national measure of happiness that is also relevant to national and district policy. It is constructed of 9 dimensions.

Composition of the GNH Index

Nine Dimensions

1.    Community Vitality
2.    Culture
3.    Education
4.    Environmental Diversity
5.    Governance
6.    Health
7.    Living Standard
8.    Psychological Well-being
9.    Time Use

The index includes both traditional areas of socio-economic concern such as living standards, health and education and less traditional aspects of culture and psychological wellbeing. It is a holistic reflection of the general well-being of the Bhutanese population rather than a subjective psychological ranking of ‘happiness’ alone. GNH recognizes that to achieve ‘happiness’ people must have sufficient achievements in each of the nine dimensions.

The nine dimensions are equally weighted because each dimension is considered to be equal in terms of its intrinsic importance as a component of gross national happiness.

Achievement in each dimension is measured by several indicators. For example, the health dimension is currently measured by three indicators: Health status, health knowledge and barriers to health.

Full details of the indicators and survey questions can be found on the Gross National Happiness website.

Determining who is unhappy

The 2008 GNH index took a strong view and identified any person who has not achieved sufficiency in all dimensions and all indicators as unhappy.

What the GNH Index tells us

Employing the Alkire Foster method, the GNH generates measures which show:

Intensity of wellbeing. The average number of dimensions in which people are happy.

Depth of shortfalls from happiness. How far people are from achieving happiness: was it a small or large gap?

Inequality among Bhutanese. The inequality in happiness among different Bhutanese.

Because the GNH measures sufficiency, the above measures are calculated by subtracting each from 1.

These measures are ‘decomposable’: they can be broken down by population group, for example, to show the composition of GNH among men and among women, and by dimension, for example to show which area or population group is lacking in education.

Results of the first GNH Index (2008)

The results of the first GNH Index showed that no surveyed Bhutanese person had achieved sufficiency in all of the indicators; however, most Bhutanese people had achieved sufficiency in six or more of the nine dimensions.

Of the dimensions in which they suffered deprivation, they were, on average, two-thirds of the way to achieving sufficiency.

Inequality in happiness between Bhutanese is relatively low.

Rural areas were far better balanced in their GNH, even if their attainments were a bit lower in each dimension. The index had other interesting findings, for example, women tended to be less happy than men – particularly in education and time use.

The GNH index illuminates everyday interconnections between dimensions that are manifested in day-to-day life. A school, for example, is expected to advance the dimension of education, but it may also increase cultural diversity and resilience. A business can raise living standards but it can affect its employees’ psychological well-being and embody good governance, as well.

Impact on Policy

The GNH index supports policy-making within Bhutan. Policy selection tools are used to review the potential effects of proposed policies on GNH. This ‘GNH Policy Lens’ requires that the policy consequences on all relevant dimensions be considered prior to implementation. In addition, project screening tools are to be implemented in nearly twenty project areas, including agriculture, forestry, trade and manufacturing, media and information, youths, as well as projects that focus on each of the nine dimensions. The stated goal is that all government projects and policies work together to maximize GNH.