Bangladeshi people are satisfied with life more than many in the richest countries who roll in plenty, according to a poll that ranks Bangladesh 31st out of 143 nations in the Happy Planet Index 2.0. Costa Ricans report the highest life satisfaction in the world.(UNB, DHAKA)

Published early this month, the Happy Planet Index ranked Costa Rica as the happiest place on earth while Zimbabwe of Africa scored the lowest.

The new global environmental report compiled by the independent British think-tank the New Economics Foundation (NEF) analysed life expectancy and general life satisfaction and set them against each nation's carbon footprint.

An estimated 1,000 respondents in each country were asked to answer the question "All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole?" with a grading between 0 and 10.

Rich, developed nations fare poorly. The highest placed Western nation is the Netherlands - managing only 43rd out of 143.

The UK comes in at 74 out of 143 countries behind post-Soviet Georgia at 72, the military dictatorship Burma at 39 and Sri Lanka, which has been scarred by civil war, at 22.

The highest ranking country in the EU was the Netherlands at 43 followed by France at 71 and Germany at 51.

The United States ranked 114, Canada 89 and Australia at 102. Zimbabwe and other poor African nations, where life expectancy and happiness is low, came to the bottom of the table.

More than 60,000 people downloaded the Happy Planet Index report in the first three days of its release, according to the NEF.