Norway is best place to live, China moves up: UN

Norway is best place to live, China moves up: UN

Norway is best place to live, China moves up: UN AFP/File – A file photo shows a hiker along a famous track in Jotunheimen Park, Norway. Norway has taken the number …
Mon Oct 5, 7:53 am ET

PARIS (AFP) – Norway takes the number one spot in the annual United Nations human development index released Monday but China has made the biggest strides in improving the well-being of its citizens.

The index compiled by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) ranks 182 countries based on such criteria as life expectancy, literacy, school enrolment and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.

Norway, Australia and Iceland took the first three spots while Niger ranks at the very bottom, just below Afghanistan.

China moved up seven places on the list to rank as the 92nd most developed country due to improvements in education as well as income levels and life expectancy.

Colombia and Peru rose five spaces to rank 77th and 78th while France -- which was not part of the top 10 last year -- returns to the upper echelons by moving up three places to number 8.

The UNDP said the index highlights the grave disparities between rich and poor countries.

A child born in Niger can expect to live to just over 50, which is 30 years less than a child born in Norway. For every dollar a person earns in Niger, 85 dollars are earned in Norway.

This year's index was based on data from 2007 and does not take into account the impact of the global economic crisis.

"Many countries have experienced setbacks over recent decades, in the face of economic downturns, conflict-related crises and the HIV and AIDS epidemic," said the UN development report's author Jeni Klugman.

"And this was even before the impact of the current global financial crisis was felt."

Afghanistan, which returns to the list for the first time since 1996, is the only Asian country among the bottom ten which also include Sierra Leone in the 180th spot, just below the Central African Republic.

The top ten countries listed on the index are: Norway, Australia, Iceland, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Switzerland and Japan.

The United States ranks 13th, down one spot from last year.

I thought there were a lot of very angry Icelanders who lost mucho bucks in a financial meltdown of their banking system.

Ok, just noticed it's based on 2007 and doesn't take into account the global financial crisis. There was a very interesting article in the New Yorker about the Iceland meltdown. I remember one weird thing was that cars had become so devalued that people were PAYING other people to take them off their hands.

to live. Come to think of it, that might be true for the uber-rich. :P

Having invented Synereconologistics,which is a 92% precise economic-politic prediction system which guessed since 1991,9 times on 10,what happens in the world. We can say that France shall be just,and stay there in the first 12,China go down four to five places and stay there and so on. Only countries,like the USA and some others that,in the long term,proves that they can come back from financial disasters and social unbalance in some areas and showing a positive no die spirit,will be the winners. Iceland? they crashed last year. And,interesting,Denmark which was voted the happiest country is not there now (is it because they never should have been voted that as a strong percentage of their citizen do suicide and they do not want immigrants) . Be careful what you say AFP,your news are not,again,correct!