For 10 years, the Legatum Institute has been tracking 149 nations around the world to answer questions like:
How do people flourish? Why are some nations more prosperous than others and how do poorer communities transition from poverty to increasing prosperity?
And in its annual Global Prosperity Index, the London-based research institute considers some 104 variables that are fit into nine prosperity pillars which attempt to weigh a country’s overall human progress. The nine pillars are: economic quality, business environment, governance, education, health, safety & security, personal freedom, social capital, and natural environment.
For the past seven years Norway has topped the list but there’s a new winner this year: New Zealand. In fact, NZ had five top-three finishes across the nine pillars. Pretty impressive for a place best known as Middle Earth.
But Canada certainly held its own, beating out countries like Australia, Netherlands, USA, UK, Denmark, Germany, France, and some other 135 nations included in the index.
Legatum Prosperity Index 2016
But the index doesn’t simply rest on its laurels. The 52-page breakdown dives further into its decade of data to reveal insights specific to countries wealth levels and how they can better deliver prosperity across their populations. It’s well worth the read:
Please study it, challenge it, add to it, but most of all use it to help create a more prosperous world. Use it to inform your vote; use it to hold leaders to account; use it as a leader to make better choices; use it to keep media honest; use it to educate children; use it to inspire your family, your friends, and help your community be the best they can be.
The top 25 most prosperous countries in the world are as follows:
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Finland
- Switzerland
- Canada
- Australia
- Netherlands
- Sweden
- Denmark
- United Kingdom
- Germany
- Luxembourg
- Ireland
- Iceland
- Austria
- Belgium
- United States
- France
- Singapore
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Japan
- Hong Kong
- Malta
- Portugal
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