2007/2008 Human Development Index Rankings
July 6th, 2008
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I’ve heard some people talking about how the U.S. was recently declared the “12th most livable country.” The top 20 are:
1. Iceland
2. Norway
3. Australia
4. Canada
5. Ireland
6. Sweden
7. Switzerland
8. Japan
9. Netherlands
10. France
11. Finland
12. United States
13. Spain
14. Denmark
15. Austria
16. United Kingdom
17. Belgium
18. Luxembourg
19. New Zealand
20. Italy
But what does this mean? This list is actually the most recent ranking of countries by the Human Development Index published by the United Nations Development Program. And that index is based on life expectancy, literacy, education attained, and GDP per capita.
If people are going to call these the “most livable countries,” I would think it was based on things like crime, health care, affordable housing, number of hours worked, etc. This index is an interesting metric, but I’m not going to be moving to Iceland just yet.
July 7th, 2008 at 1:27 am
Hi Hunter,
I find it fascinating that Finland was listed above the US. My ancestors moved to the US from Finland….course, it was in the early 1900’s
Barbara Swaffords last blog post..Commenting vs Social Media-Is One Better
July 7th, 2008 at 9:42 am
Maybe they should go around and ask everyone in each country: “On a scale from 1 to 10, how happy are you?”
Marelisas last blog post..Creating Closet Bliss
July 7th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Hi Hunter, I’ve been looking at those charts too – but the cold and language barrier puts me off Iceland. I also heard that they take into account things like the countries least likely to suffer terrorist attacks.
I was seriously considering moving to Australia but now I’m leaning more towards Canada, as it’s closer to America and handier for visiting home. Plus I’m really scared of spiders and snakes.
Cath Lawsons last blog post..Credit Fraud & The Business That Throws Cash At Junkies
July 7th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
@ Barbara, I hear that Finland has made great strides in the last century!
@ Marelisa, maybe they did that. That would explain why Japan did better than the U.S. – Americans would tend to say 7 while Japanese would tend to say 8 because those are the lucky numbers in each country!
@ Cath, Iceland is actually very warm considering its latitude, but yes, it’s not exactly San Diego. And I certainly don’t speak Icelandic. But I was encouraged to see some English-speaking countries ranking high, in case I ever need a backup! I don’t think you’ll go wrong with Canada, and plus you can drop in on James Chartrand! (Yes, I know Canada is really big, but maybe…)
July 7th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
What???!!?? Where is Singapore on this list? I can assure you that Singapore is very livable, despite having a ban on chewing gum here! Singaporeans are also very loving and peace-keeping!
July 7th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
@ Evelyn, don’t worry, Singapore is #25. It looks like they were dragged down by ranking 47th for literacy rate (92.5%). Unfortunately, being loving and peace-keeping doesn’t factor into it, but maybe we can start our own index!
That’s funny about the chewing gum ban…I had to Google it because I didn’t know if you were joking. I don’t like gum, but I don’t know if I’d want a ban on it.
July 8th, 2008 at 9:45 am
[...] we looked at some livability indexes. Out of the top twenty most livable countries we were most attracted to Australia and Canada. The US also appealed, but we left that out of the [...]
July 8th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
I don’t care if they handed me $10,000 once I got off the plane in Iceland, there is no way I could live somewhere so cold. Luckily I don’t have to think about it as Australia is in number 3 position.
It is interesting though to look at the strengths of different countries and think what if one place had it all – what would it look like? I still think though that how happy you are in a town or country has a lot to do with the ties and history you have there. Family and friends. Wherever they are, that’s my home.
Kelly
July 9th, 2008 at 12:27 am
WTF NZ ranks below the US – how does that work- maybe for those who like to own guns!
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July 9th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
@ Kelly, there are certainly a lot of factors that aren’t measured by this index. History comes into play, and I can understand if someone just wants to live near their family and friends, and doesn’t even care about much else. On the other hand, what if your friends and family all moved to Iceland?
@ Lissie, guns aren’t considered in the rankings. In New Zealand’s case, they had some things going for them, but they came in below the U.S. mainly because their per capita GDP was much lower.
August 17th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
I’ll migrate to Australia.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
@ Duhwain, let me know when you get there!