Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness

The idea of Gross National Happiness (GNH) is associated with King Jigme Singye Wangchuck and the early 1970s—most commonly dated to 1972. But systematic measurement as a quality-of-life index began later: Bhutan conducted national GNH surveys in 2008 and 2010, with subsequent survey waves. Thus “measured since 1973” conflates the origin of a development philosophy with later statistical measurement.