Iceland falls down UN development index
Iceland is now the world's 16th best country to live in. Photo: Golli / Kjartan Þorbjörnsson
Iceland has fallen three places on the Human Development Index (HDI) since last year and is now the world’s 16th best place to live, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Iceland took first place in the same index back in 2007/8.
The HDI is described as a “summary measure of average achievement in key dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, being knowledgeable and have a decent standard of living”.
In the space of six years, Iceland’s overall score has fallen from 0.968 (out of 1) to 0.899.
While life expectancy over that period has increased from 81.5 to 82.6 years, GDP per capita has fallen from US$ 36,510 to US$ 35,182 (approx. -4%).
By contrast, now first-placed Norway has seen its GDP per capita shoot up by some 57% over the same period, reaching US$ 64,922 in 2014.
Iceland’s major fall came between 2009 and 2010, when the country plummeted in the listing from 3rd to 17th place.
The five best countries to live in according to the latest HDI are Norway (1), Australia (2), Switzerland (3), fellow Nordic country Denmark (4) and the Netherland (5). You can see the full ranking here.
