Where-to-be-born Index


The Economist Intelligence Unit’s where-to-be-born index attempts to measure which country will provide the best opportunities for a healthy, safe and prosperous life in the years ahead. It is based on a method that links the results of subjective life-satisfaction surveys to the objective determinants of quality of life across countries along with a forward-looking element.

Methodology

The index calculated for 2013 includes data from 80 countries and territories. The survey used ten quality of life factors along with forecasts of future GDP per capita to determine a nation's score.
The life satisfaction scores for 2006 for 130 countries are related in a multivariate regression to various factors. As many as 11 indicators are statistically significant. Together these indicators explain some 85% of the inter-country variation in life satisfaction scores. The values of the life satisfaction scores that are predicted by the indicators represent a country's quality of life index. The coefficients in the estimated equation weight automatically the importance of the various factors. The estimated equation for 2006 can be utilized to calculate index values for year in the past and future, allowing for comparison over time as well across countries.
The independent variables in the estimating equation for 2006 include:
RankCountryScore
1Switzerland 8.22
2 Australia 8.12
3 Norway 8.09
4 Sweden 8.02
5Denmark8.01
6 Singapore 8.00
7 New Zealand 7.95
8 Netherlands 7.94
9 Canada 7.81
10 Hong Kong 7.80
11 Finland 7.76
12 Ireland 7.74
13 Austria 7.73
14 Taiwan 7.67
15 Belgium 7.51
16 Germany 7.38
16 United States 7.38
18 United Arab Emirates 7.33
19 South Korea 7.25
20 Israel 7.23
21 Italy 7.21
22 Kuwait 7.18
23 Chile 7.10
23 Cyprus 7.10
25 Japan 7.08
26 France 7.04
27 United Kingdom 7.01
28 Czech Republic 6.96
28 Spain 6.96
30 Costa Rica 6.92
30 Portugal 6.92
32 Slovenia 6.77
33 Poland 6.66
34 Greece 6.65
35 Slovakia 6.64
36 Malaysia 6.62
37 Argentina 6.52
38 Saudi Arabia 6.49
39 Brazil 6.41
40 Cuba 6.39
40 Mexico 6.39
42 Colombia 6.27
43 Peru 6.24
44 Estonia 6.07
44 Venezuela 6.07
46 Croatia 6.06
46 Hungary 6.06
48 Latvia 6.01
49 China 5.99
50 Thailand 5.96
51 Turkey 5.95
52 Dominican Republic 5.93
53 South Africa 5.89
54 Algeria 5.86
54 Serbia 5.86
56 Romania 5.85
57 Lithuania 5.82
58 Iran 5.78
59 Tunisia 5.77
60 Egypt 5.76
61 Bulgaria 5.73
62 El Salvador 5.72
63 Philippines 5.71
63 Sri Lanka 5.71
65 Ecuador 5.70
66 India 5.67
66 Morocco 5.67
68 Vietnam 5.64
69 Jordan 5.63
70 Azerbaijan 5.60
71 Indonesia 5.54
72 Russia 5.31
73 Syria 5.29
74 Kazakhstan 5.20
75 Pakistan 5.17
76 Angola 5.09
77 Bangladesh 5.07
78 Ukraine 4.98
79 Kenya 4.91
80 Nigeria 4.74

1988 rankings

The original quality-of-life index was released in 1988. It included a "philistine factor" for a lack of culture and a "yawn index" which measured how boring a country might be despite all its other advantages.
RankCountry
1United States
2France
3West Germany
4Italy
5Canada
6
7British Hong Kong
7United Kingdom
9Sweden
10Netherlands
10
12Austria
13Norway
13Switzerland
15Belgium
15Ireland
15Spain
18Australia
18Finland
18New Zealand
21Argentina
21Soviet Union
23Poland
24Denmark
24Hungary
24
27Greece
27India
27Mexico
30
30Israel
32China
32Portugal
32United Arab Emirates
32
36East Germany
36Singapore
38Malaysia
39Yugoslavia
40 South Africa
41Turkey
42Indonesia
43Pakistan
44Egypt
45 Libya
46Saudi Arabia
47Nigeria
48Iran
48
48Zimbabwe

Measurement and metrics

Indices