Norway has been listed as the most prosperous country in the world by the Legatum Institute 2014 Prosperity Index.
The index, which ranked Switzerland in second place, bases a country’s prosperity performance on eight variables: Economy, Governance, Personal Freedom, Social Capital, Education, Health, Security and Entrepreneurship and Opportunity. Norway’s best performance came in the Social Capital category, while its worst (seventh) was in Entrepreneurship and Opportunity.
The Scandinavian country retained its place at the top of the rankings from last year, while New Zealand moved from fifth place up to third. Russia is now the worst performing country in Europe in 68th position.
The study showed that 90 per cent of Norwegians think the Nordic nation offers immigrants a good place to live, while 94.9 per cent believe their fellow citizens would help them in troubled times.
However, 29.7 per cent of Norwegians surveyed think corruption within the government and in business is a big issue. In the Central African Republic, ranked the world’s least prosperous country, 75 per cent of the population think corruption is widespread.
The Legatum Institute study has been running for eight years and aims to give an insight into how prosperity develops and changes across the globe. It studies 142 nations, and represents 99 per cent of global GDP and 96 per cent of the worldwide population.