Key Finding

9. Strong communities are better than weak governments

Levels of social capital are unusually diverse throughout the Prosperity Index rankings. In particular, countries in which good governance adds to people's overall wellbeing frequently have low levels of social capital. In the graph below one can see that a country's low social capital score is often counterbalanced by a high governance score, and vice versa.

INSIGHT:People in poorly governed countries often rely more heavily on their families, communities, and other trust-building networks.