Rabat - Morocco ranks 33 out of the most sustainably happy countries in the world today, ahead of the UK and well ahead of the US, according to, The Happy Planet Index Report, published by The New Economics Foundation.

Rabat – Morocco ranks 33 out of the most sustainably happy countries in the world today, ahead of the UK and well ahead of the US, according to, The Happy Planet Index Report, published by The New Economics Foundation.

The index measures happiness in 140 countries based on four elements: wellbeing, life expectancy, inequality of outcomes, and ecological footprint (which measures the supply of and demand on nature).

Ecological footprint means ‘’the average impact that each resident of a country places on the environment, based on data prepared by the Global Footprint Network,” according to happyplanetindex.org.

The aim of the index is to encourage people to live good lives with limited resources and without great cost to the planet.

Costa Rica topped the ranking due to its policy of sustainable development, having abolished its army in 1949 and reinvested the money in health and education programs. Renewable energy sources account for 99% of Costa Rica’s electricity generation.

The UK came in at 34 and USA was ranked way down the list at 108.

Chad, an oil producing country which suffers from a high poverty rate, inadequate infrastructure and internal instability, appears at the bottom of the ranking with a large ecological footprint.

Morocco ranked at 33, scored 32.7, reflecting a 73.4 year of age life expectancy, 5/10 in wellbeing, 1.7 in ecological footprint, and 25 percent in inequality.

The index does not take into account other criteria, such as social freedoms or economic strength.

Edited by Elisabeth Myers