Costa Rica ranked 'happiest place' on earth

Melbourne, June 18 (ANI): If you are planning for a holiday and want to ensure it a happy one, Costa Rica could be the best place to go.

The Central American country has been named as the happiest place in the world in the New Economics Foundation's Happy Planet Index.

Costa Rica, meaning "'rich coast", is a popular eco-tourism destination known for its beautiful beaches, rainforests and diverse plants and wildlife, including colourful toucan birds, News.com.au reported.

The next happiest places are Vietnam and Colombia.

Australia was ranked 86th on the list - way behind its neighbour New Zealand at number 38.

The organisation ranked all of the countries in the world from data culled from a Gallup World Poll asking people how they felt their lives measured up on a scale of one to 10.

They then factored in life expectancy and the country's ecological footprint - the amount of land needed to sustain its way of life.

The New Economics Foundation said that it didn't believe its Happy Planet Index was the only way the measure the success of a country, but it was a valid indicator of the state of a nation.

"'By only using indicators like GDP to measure success we are not accounting for what really matters, producing happy lives for people now and in the future,'' it said.

On the other hand Qatar, Chad and Botswana were ranked the unhappiest places on the planet.

Happiest countries on earth

1. Costa Rica

2. Vietnam

3. Colombia

4. Belize

5. El Salvador

6. Jamaica

7. Panama

8. Nicaragua

9. Venezuela

10. Guatemala (ANI)