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Norway is world's most prosperous country


  • Thorhild Widvey: Norway's richest MP (17 Oct 14)
  • Norway boasts a record 222 billionaires (25 Sep 14)Legatum Institute's 2014 Prosperity Index ranked Norway as the most prosperous country in the world, with Switzerland at number two on the list.
    The rankings are based on eight variables of a country's prosperityperformance:
    • Economy
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Governance
    • Education
    • Personal freedom
    • Health
    • Security
    • Social capital
    Norway performed best on Social Capital and worst (7th) on Entrepreneurship and Opportunity.
    The Nordic nation retained its number one spot from last year, as the top-ranking most prosperous country. New Zealand moved to third place, up two spots from 2013, while Russia slipped to Europe's worstperforming country in 68th place.
    The study revealed 90 percent of Norwegians believe their country is a good place for immigrants to live, while 94.9 percent said they felt they could rely on their fellow citizens in a time of need.
    Less optimistic however was that nearly one-third of Norwegians (29.7 percent) thought corruption in business and government  were widespread. Compare this to the Central African Republic's results - the least prosperous country in the world - where 75 percent of the nation's population believe corruption is widespread.
    The study, now in its eighth year, offers a unique insight into how prosperity is forming and changing across the world.
    The Index takes into account 142 countries, representing more than 96 percent of the world’s population and 99 percent of global GDP.
    Prosperity Index: Top 20
    1 Norway
    2 Switzerland
    3 New Zealand
    4 Denmark
    5 Canada
    6 Sweden
    7 Australia
    8 Finland
    9 Netherlands
    10 United States
    11 Iceland
    12 Ireland
    13 United Kingdom
    14 Germany
    15 Austria
    16 Luxembourg
    17 Belgium
    18 Singapore
    19 Japan
    20 Hong Kong
    France was just outside the Top 20 in 21st place, Spain was 26th and Italy was The Local's poorest performing country in 37th place.
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    The Local (news@thelocal.no)

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