Official Site - 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.

Executive Summary

What is prosperity, and how is it achieved?

Download the 2011 Report

The Legatum Prosperity Index seeks to answer these two fundamental questions. Most people would intuitively agree that “prosperity” is not just about money but also about quality of life. The Index defines prosperity as both wealth and wellbeing, and finds that the most prosperous nations in the world are not necessarily those that have only a high GDP, but are those that also have happy, healthy, and free citizens.

How we created the Index

The Legatum Prosperity Index™ assesses 110 countries, accounting for over 90 percent of the world’s population, and is based on 89 different variables, each of which has a demonstrated effect on economic growth or on personal wellbeing. The Index consists of eight sub-indexes, each of which represents a fundamental aspect of prosperity:

  1. Economy - Stable and growing economies increase per capita income and promote the overall wellbeing of its citizens.
  2. Entrepreneurship & Opportunity (E&O) - A strong entrepreneurial climate in which citizens can pursue new ideas and opportunities for improving their lives leads to higher levels of income and wellbeing.
  3. Governance - Well-governed societies enjoy national economic growth and citizen wellbeing.
  4. Education - Education is a building block for prosperous societies.
  5. Health - A strong healthcare infrastructure in which citizens are able to enjoy good physical and mental health leads to higher levels of income and wellbeing.
  6. Safety & Security - Societies plagued by threats to national security and personal safety cannot foster growth in average levels of income or wellbeing.
  7. Personal Freedom - When citizens enjoy their rights to expression, belief, organisation, and personal autonomy in a society welcoming of diversity, their country enjoys higher levels of income and social wellbeing.
  8. Social Capital - Social networks and the cohesion that a society experiences when people trust one another have a direct effect on the prosperity of a country.

Each of the sub-indexes provides us with two important analyses: first, an economic assessment, and second, an assessment of a country’s subjective wellbeing, or happiness.

Rankings

Norway remains at the top of this year’s Index, narrowly ahead of Denmark and Australia, with the United States ranking 10th, ahead of large European nations such as Britain, Germany and France, which all still make the top 20. The Central African Republic ranks last ahead of Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.

 

Norway Denmark Finland Australia New Zealand Sweden Canada Switzerland Netherlands United States Zambia Cameron Mozambique Yemen Nigeria Ethopia Kenya Central African Republic Pakistan Zimbabwe