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Bhutan, after prioritizing happiness, now faces an existential crisis

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271 points nradov | 3 comments | 18 Nov 24 13:53 UTC | HN request time: 0.573s | source
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jdietrich ◴[18 Nov 24 15:21 UTC] No.42173139[source]▶
Bhutan's economy is growing, but it still has a nominal GDP per capita of only $3,700. Their youth unemployment rate is 16%, but 24% in urban areas. For all the talk of gross national happiness, it's hard to imagine a young person feeling happy in a poor country with very limited opportunities for upward mobility.

I'm also not sure that mass emigration should be seen as an existential threat. Many developing economies have very successfully leveraged emigration and remittances as an engine of economic growth. If Bhutan can modernise into a more open economy, those young people could start returning home with the skills, experience and capital to do great things.

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?location...

https://www.nsb.gov.bt/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2023/1...

https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2024/03/11/a-stron...

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1. insane_dreamer ◴[18 Nov 24 15:31 UTC] No.42173264[source]▶
> nominal GDP per capita of only $3,700.

GDP is not a good measure of whether people have their needs met or not, doesn't factor in COL

> in a poor country with very limited opportunities for upward mobility

on the other hand, with its economy growing and an open-minded leadership, opportunities for enterprising young people would generally be greater

> youth unemployment rate is 16%

to put that in perspective, that's about the same as the EU

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2. snowwrestler ◴[18 Nov 24 16:22 UTC] No.42173902[source]▶
And it is a big problem for the EU as well.
3. notahacker ◴[18 Nov 24 16:23 UTC] No.42173919[source]▶
The PPP adjusted for COL puts Bhutan roughly on a par with Sri Lanka or Indonesia, which suffice to say are countries where a lot of people don't get their needs met. There's plenty of intra-EU migration driven by youth unemployment, and I suspect that the Bhutanese unemployment benefits - if they exist at all - aren't as generous. And I think the Llotshampa might have something to say about how open minded the Bhutanese leadership really is...