Is Your Country Among the World’s Most Prosperous?
By Simon Farrell
Where does your country come in the latest Legatum Prosperity Index, which evaluates 167 nations using 104 different variables categorized into nine equally weighted sub-indexes: Economic Quality, Business Environment, Governance, Education, Health, Safety & Security, Personal Freedom, Social Capital and Natural Environment?
The Legatum Prosperity Index is an annual ranking developed by the Legatum Institute, an independent educational charity founded and part-funded by the private investment firm Legatum. The ranking is based on a variety of factors including wealth, economic growth, education, health, personal well-being and quality of life.
In the latest rankings, Japan came 17th and the US 19th as Denmark topped the list, followed by Nordic neighbours Sweden, Norway and Finland. South Sudan came last.
Methodology
The 2023 Legatum Prosperity Index is based on 104 different variables analysed across nations around the world. Source data includes Gallup World Poll, World Development Indicators, International Telecommunication Union, Fragile States Index, Worldwide Governance Indicators, Freedom House, World Health Organization, World Values Survey, Amnesty International and Centre for Systemic Peace. The 104 variables are grouped into nine sub-indexes, which are averaged using equal weights. The nine sub-indexes are:
- Economic Quality
- Business Environment
- Governance
- Education
- Health
- Safety & Security
- Personal Freedom
- Social Capital
- Natural Environment
For example, Personal Freedom includes freedom of speech and religion, national tolerance for immigrants and ethnic and racial minorities. The Social Capital sub-index includes the percentage of citizens who volunteer, give to charity, help strangers and who feel they can rely on family and friends.
Oxford Analytica assisted in the early development of the Prosperity Index and has contributed to shaping the methodology. Today, the annual Index is produced and published by the Legatum Institute.
The Legatum Institute operates a transparent approach to its work on the Prosperity Index. To that end, the entire methodology of the Prosperity Index along with the data used to create it is available for free online at the institute’s website.
