What Is Gross National Happiness (GNH)?

What Is Gross National Happiness (GNH)?

Let me explain what Gross National Happiness, or GNH, really means. It's a measure of economic happiness and moral progress that Bhutan's king introduced back in the 1970s. You see, GNH is designed as an alternative to Gross Domestic Product, or GDP. Instead of just looking at quantitative economic numbers, GNH considers a changing set of quality-of-life factors. In Bhutan, this approach has directly influenced the country's development policies.

Key Takeaways

Here's what you need to know right away: GNH is Bhutan's way to gauge economic and moral progress, introduced in the 1970s as a GDP alternative. It rests on four pillars—good governance, sustainable development, preservation and promotion of culture, and environmental conservation. When Bhutanese lawmakers decide on new laws, they must consider these four pillars.

Understanding Gross National Happiness (GNH)

I want to dive deeper into GNH for you. This concept came from Bhutan's fourth king, and its goal is to assess a country's prosperity by prioritizing the happiness and well-being of its people. That's different from measures like GDP, which focus mainly on economic success.

As the Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies points out, happiness isn't just about money. It's about a balanced approach that combines economic factors with the emotional well-being of the population. When calculating GNH, we look at various quality-of-life elements, such as physical vitality, your relationship with the natural environment, family and community ties, work-life balance, and other meaningful experiences.

To make this work, the GNH Centre in Bumthang created the four pillars I mentioned: good governance, sustainable development, preservation and promotion of culture, and environmental conservation. Bhutan's 2008 constitution requires lawmakers to factor these in for any new legislation.

These pillars support happiness, which shows up in nine domains of GNH: psychological well-being, standard of living, good governance, health, community vitality, cultural diversity, time use, and ecological resilience.

Fast Fact

Consider this historical note: Bhutan's first legal code from 1729, during unification, declared that the government's purpose is to provide happiness to its people—if it can't, there's no point in the government existing.

History of Gross National Happiness (GNH)

Let me walk you through the history. In a 1972 interview with the Financial Times, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck said that gross national happiness matters more than gross national product. We don't know how deeply he planned this idea, but Bhutanese scholars have developed it into a scientific measure for the kingdom's economic and moral growth, especially as Bhutan opened up from isolation.

By 1998, Bhutan set up the Centre for Bhutan Studies & GNH Studies to research it. Their job was to create a GNH index and indicators for public policy. This allowed Bhutan to share the framework with the world as it connected more with outsiders.

Important Note

Keep this in mind: People who are happy often show the highest sufficiency in their standard of living and health.

The GNH Index

Now, about the GNH Index—it reports the happiness of Bhutan's people on a scale from zero to one, where one is perfect happiness. The index uses 33 indicators, each with a specific weight.

Factors in the calculation include cultural aspects, emotional well-being, physical health, and relationships. The 2022 report explains it as aggregating the proportion of happy people plus the proportion of not-yet-happy people times their average sufficiency levels.

The 2022 GNH Index Report

In 2022, Bhutan's GNH index scored 0.781. The report showed 48.1% of the population as happy, broken down into 9.5% deeply happy, 38.6% extensively happy, 45.5% narrowly happy, and 6.4% unhappy.

Interestingly, more happy people live in rural areas—about 57%—compared to 43% in urban areas.

What's the Difference Between Gross National Happiness and the World Happiness Report?

You might wonder how GNH compares to the World Happiness Report. GNH is Bhutan's own measure, used instead of economic indicators to assess emotional and physical well-being, and it directly shapes policies. The World Happiness Report, however, comes from a collaboration including Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and an editorial board—it ranks global happiness but isn't a policy tool.

What Are the 4 Pillars of Gross National Happiness?

As I mentioned, there are four pillars. GNH promotes sustainable development, preserves and promotes cultural values, conserves the natural environment, and establishes good governance.

What Are the Domains of Gross National Happiness?

There are nine domains: psychological well-being, health, time use, education, cultural diversity and resilience, good governance, community vitality, ecological diversity and resilience, and standard of living.

The Bottom Line

To wrap this up, GNH is the prosperity measure Bhutan uses—a landlocked nation between India and China in the Eastern Himalayas. Developed by the fourth king in the 1970s, it gauges the population's happiness and well-being. Unlike other countries that rely on economic indicators, Bhutan bases its policies and future plans on GNH.