Norway tops prosperity index

The Legatum Institute named Norway as the most prosperous country in the world for 2012, followed by Denmark and Sweden respectively.

The index is a unique annual assessment of global prosperity based on both material wealth and personal wellbeing. The Prosperity Index benchmarks countries in eight categories: Economy; Education; Entrepreneurship & Opportunity; Governance; Health; Personal Freedom; Safety & Security; and Social Capital. The 2012 edition of the index also includes 32 new entrants, bringing the total number of countries to 142 and extending the Prosperity Index coverage to 96 percent of the world’s population and 99 percent of global GDP.

In an unprecedented fall, America drops to twelfth position in the worldwide prosperity rankings – with weakening performance across five of the Index’s eight sub-categories.

Jeffrey Gedmin, President and CEO of the Legatum Institute, said: “The Legatum Prosperity Index allows us to paint a comprehensive picture of what makes a country truly successful, encompassing traditional measures of material wealth, as well as capturing citizens’ sense of wellbeing – from how safe they feel, to their perceived personal freedom. GDP alone can never offer a complete view of prosperity.”

Norway was ranked first in overall prosperity, and its lowest ranking was in governance, where it came in 13th place. By comparison, the U.S. was ranked 12th overall, with its highest ranking in health (2nd place) and lowest ranking in safety (27th). Canada came in sixth place overall, with its highest ranking in freedom (1st place) and worst ranking in entrepreneurship (16th place).