GNH & the Maldives Happiness Index

Most countries measure success by money: GDP. Some are also asking a bigger question: are people actually doing well? This page explains the idea in plain words and links to the official sources.

1 · What is GNH?

Bhutan's Gross National Happiness (GNH) Index asks whether people have what they need to live well, across nine domains measured by 33 indicators. Each domain counts equally.

  1. Psychological wellbeing

  2. Health

  3. Time use

  4. Education

  5. Cultural diversity & resilience

  6. Good governance

  7. Community vitality

  8. Ecological diversity & resilience

  9. Living standards

Think of it like an island. If the reef dies, the fish go. If the school closes, the young leave. Every part feeds the others.

2 · How Bhutan's index sorts people

  • Each indicator has a sufficiency threshold: the level counted as "enough". For schooling, for example, it's at least six years.

  • Each person gets a sufficiency score, the weighted share of indicators where they have enough.

  • Under 50%: unhappy · 50–65.9%: narrowly happy · 66–76.9%: extensively happy · 77% and over: deeply happy.

  • In Bhutan's 2022 survey, 45.5% of people aged 15+ were narrowly happy and 48.1% were happy.

These are Bhutan's numbers and Bhutan's method. The Maldives hasn't published its thresholds or results yet.

3 · The Maldives Happiness Index

  • July 2024: the Ministry of Cities, Local Government and Public Works announced the country's first national happiness survey, with the Islamic University of Maldives (IUM) as research partner.

  • February 2025: the Maldives Happiness Index was launched. It will be compiled island by island, with local councils helping to collect data.

  • What it looks at (as reported in 2025): mental and physical health, time balance, learning, arts and culture, community cohesion, social assistance and services, quality of life, contact with the environment, and trust in governance. A March 2025 draft also proposed use of technology and media, and adherence to Islamic principles.

  • Next: a pilot was planned for 2026. We'll add its status and any first results here once they're officially published.

Taking part: there's no public survey link yet. When the Ministry or IUM publishes official updates or a way to take part, we'll link to it here. Please only use official channels.

4 · What it means for you

A good life isn't one thing. It's many things in balance, and attention links them all. Where your attention goes decides your time use, your sleep, your learning, your relationships, even how you treat the reef.

Ask yourself: which of the nine domains gets most of my attention? Which gets almost none?

5 · Share your pledge

Signed the National Attention Pledge on p. 92? Photograph your card and share it with #AttentionAdvantageMV, or pin it above your desk.

Official sources and further reading

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