What is the Prosperity Index?

The Legatum Prosperity Index is the world’s only global assessment of wealth and wellbeing; unlike other studies that rank countries by actual levels of wealth, life satisfaction or development, the Prosperity Index produces rankings based upon the very foundations of prosperity – those factors that help drive economic growth and produce happy citizens over the long term.

Read the executive summary

Who's top? Who's not?

View the 2009 Index rankings and find out

How happy are YOU?

Measure your own happiness by using the Personal Prosperiscope, an easy to understand introduction to a fascinating new area of research popularly known as the 'science of happiness'.

Key findings

From this year's Index Prosperity is concentrated in the North Atlantic – for now

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Country Spotlight

South Korea

Ranked 26th

Economic Fundamentals	21st
Entrepreneurship & Innovation	16th
Democratic Institutions	32nd
Education	30th
Health	31st
Safety and Security	36th
Governance	27th
Personal Freedom	70th
Social Capital	31st

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Prosperity Index in the news

Press releases

Legatum Media Centre

26 October 2009
The World’s Most Prosperous Nations Are in Europe
26 October 2009
U.S. Still Leads the World in Innovation, Despite Economic Crisis

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About the Institute

The Legatum Institute is an independent research, policy, and advocacy organisation that promotes political, economic and individual liberty in the developing and transitioning world. The Institute undertakes original and collaborative research, publishes scholarly literature and popular distillations, and cultivates a distinguished group of advisors and fellows. It develops innovative ways to disseminate its ideas and analyses, and to test and implement its findings.