Iceland has the world's second highest quality of life, according to the latest release of the Social Progress Index (SPI). According to the 2017 SPI only Norway offers its people a higher standard of living. Iceland has moved up one spot since the last ranking in 2016. The SPI ranks 146 countries worldwide, using 51 different metrics which measure different aspects of the quality of life of ordinary people.
Read more: How much is the average wage in Iceland?
Nordic Countries take four of the top five spots, with Iceland and Norway taking the top two places, followed by Switzerland, Denmark and Finland in the fifth spot. The US ranks 25th, dropping seven places since 2016, and the UK 13th, dropping two places.
A better way to measure economic performance
The Social Progress Index focuses on measures which measure the quality of life and permits us to see how well societies do at turning economic growth into positive social outcomes which matter to ordinary people. The core idea behind the index is that high GDP is of no use to regular people if it does not translate into a high quality of life.
Research has also shown that countries that do well at turning growth into socially positive incomes perform better, economically, over the long term.
The scorecard highlights a country’s relative strengths and relative weaknesses compared to 15 peer countries with a similar GDP per capita.
Read more: International conference in Harpa to explore how growth is turned into social progress
Icelandic strengths and weaknesses
The SPI reveals that Iceland is the second best when it comes to providing basic medical care and nutritional needs of its people, and third best at caring for the health and wellness of its people. Personal safety in Iceland is the third best and offers the fourth most inclusive society worldwide. The personal safety is dragged down by an unusually high number of homicides in 2017, when four people were killed.
Perhaps surprisingly one of the primary weaknesses of Iceland is environmental quality, where Iceland ranks 17th. Iceland has great potential to improve its position on this metric, as it has climbed seven spots since the last ranking. The relatively low rank is primarily due to poor marks on wastewater treatment and biome protection, where Iceland scores 30th and 84th. The creation of a Central Highlands National Park should improve Iceland's ranking on this metric.
Iceland has the world's second highest quality of life, according to the latest release of the Social Progress Index (SPI). According to the 2017 SPI only Norway offers its people a higher standard of living. Iceland has moved up one spot since the last ranking in 2016. The SPI ranks 146 countries worldwide, using 51 different metrics which measure different aspects of the quality of life of ordinary people.
Read more: How much is the average wage in Iceland?
Nordic Countries take four of the top five spots, with Iceland and Norway taking the top two places, followed by Switzerland, Denmark and Finland in the fifth spot. The US ranks 25th, dropping seven places since 2016, and the UK 13th, dropping two places.
A better way to measure economic performance
The Social Progress Index focuses on measures which measure the quality of life and permits us to see how well societies do at turning economic growth into positive social outcomes which matter to ordinary people. The core idea behind the index is that high GDP is of no use to regular people if it does not translate into a high quality of life.
Research has also shown that countries that do well at turning growth into socially positive incomes perform better, economically, over the long term.
The scorecard highlights a country’s relative strengths and relative weaknesses compared to 15 peer countries with a similar GDP per capita.
Read more: International conference in Harpa to explore how growth is turned into social progress
Icelandic strengths and weaknesses
The SPI reveals that Iceland is the second best when it comes to providing basic medical care and nutritional needs of its people, and third best at caring for the health and wellness of its people. Personal safety in Iceland is the third best and offers the fourth most inclusive society worldwide. The personal safety is dragged down by an unusually high number of homicides in 2017, when four people were killed.
Perhaps surprisingly one of the primary weaknesses of Iceland is environmental quality, where Iceland ranks 17th. Iceland has great potential to improve its position on this metric, as it has climbed seven spots since the last ranking. The relatively low rank is primarily due to poor marks on wastewater treatment and biome protection, where Iceland scores 30th and 84th. The creation of a Central Highlands National Park should improve Iceland's ranking on this metric.
