Booming Bhutan
The Happiest Place on Earth?
Article Summary and Author Biography
Long impoverished and isolated, tiny Bhutan is finally booming. This onetime absolute monarchy has also made important democratic reforms and major improvements in quality of life. Although big challenges remain, the kingdom -- especially its focus on Gross Domestic Happiness -- offers some important development lessons for other poor nations in the region.
JOHN BERTHELSEN is the editor of the Hong Kong-based Asia Sentinel, which covers 23 countries across Asia.
This article is the second installment of a five-part series examining the world's fastest-growing economies, according to the IMF World Economic Outlook.
Buddhist monks walk past a power station in Thimphu. (Adnan Abidi / Courtesy Reuters)
The tiny kingdom of Bhutan, wedged into a Himalayan crevice between India and China, has experienced unprecedented growth in GDP -- an estimated eight percent between 2011 and 2012 and a projected 12.5 percent between 2012 and 2013, which makes it the world's fourth fastest-growing economy. This growth spurt is almost entirely thanks to the sale of hydropower to India, which accounted for 45 percent of the country’s revenue and 20 percent of its GDP in 2011. Flush with cash, the government plans to build ten new hydropower plants by 2020, bringing its total up to 40.
