Everywhere you look in this world there are signs of instability, destruction, hopelessness. Syria is in civil war. Libya is in chaos. Egypt remains unsettled after its military coup. Iran is weeks away from weapons-grade uranium. Iraq is racked by chronic sectarian violence. Russia’s Vladimir Putin is cracking down on gay rights. Mozambique is slumping back into civil war. Kenya is reeling from the Nairobi terrorist massacre. China’s air pollution has become debilitating.

And in the United States faith in governance is at an all-time low. The fiscal cliff, the sequester, high unemployment, the federal shutdown, the embarrassing rollout of Obamacare. Not only are Americans disgusted with Washington, our allies are, too, with scores of countries livid at revelations of extensive NSA spying.

Does this sound like a happy, prosperous world?

And yet, says the London-based Legatum Institute, “despite the tumultuous events of the past five years, global prosperity is actually still on the rise.”

What a relief. So how do they know? For five years now the think tank has compiled something it calls the Prosperity Index, using “a mixture of traditional economic indicators alongside measurements of well-being and life satisfaction.” Legatum scores the world’s countries on entrepreneurship, personal freedom, health, economy, social capital, education, safety and security and governance. The result is a list of 142 countries, covering 96 percent of world population and 99 percent of global GDP, ranked from most to least prosperous — the happiest and saddest countries in the world.

So who’s the happiest? As has been the case the past five years, that distinction goes to countries that enjoy peace, freedom, good health care, quality education, a functioning political system and plenty of opportunity — like Norway or New Zealand. (In case you’re wondering, the United States placed just outside the top 10.)

The saddest, least prosperous? War-ravaged countries under the thumb of greedy despots and theocrats, where freedom of expression is limited, education nonexistent and violence the norm — such as Chad or Afghanistan.

Over the three years that I’ve written about Legatum’s Index, readers have chimed in with criticisms of the methodology and the rankings. People who have spent time in Oslo and Stockholm insist that Scandinavians really aren’t happier, but are all too prone to nihilism, alcoholism and suicide.

In contrast, poor people in isolated tribal groups may not have access to electricity or running water, but their stronger sense of community and culture often gives them a naturally more upbeat and cheerful outlook on the world, some argue.

Happiness is subjective, not objective, and what defines it can be debated ad infinitum. Does prosperity equal happiness? Not always, but it sure helps.