Quality of life in Germany is one of the highest in the world, according to the latest UN Human Development Index (HDI). Only Norway, Switzerland and Ireland perform better. 

Germany scores highly in 2018 Human Development Index

In worldwide comparison, people in Norway have the best time of it. That’s according to the 2018 Human Development Index for Quality of Life (HDI), published by the UN Development Program (UNDP) this week as part of their annual Human Development Report. 

The HDI aims to measure a country’s achievement in three key dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, being knowledgeable and having a decent standard of living. The index looks at factors like average life expectancy, years of schooling and GNI per capita to calculate a composite measure of human well-being. In total, 189 countries and territories are included in the ranking.

Overall, the 2018 index shows that overall quality of life is steadily rising worldwide. The group classified as having “very high” human development has this year grown to include 62 countries and territories. 

The best and worst countries for quality of life

Behind Germany and Hong Kong, which take joint fourth position, come Australia and Iceland, Sweden, Singapore and the Netherlands. All of these countries have consistently been in the top 10 since the index first appeared in 2010. 

On the other hand, too many people in too many countries still continue to have destinies marked by inequality and lost opportunities. More and more people in the world are having to grapple with social hardship and disadvantage. Countries in which armed conflicts continue to rage are lagging behind in the ranking: UNDP experts position Libya 110th, Syria 154th and Yemen 177th in the index. 

The bottom five places of the HDI are all occupied by African countries: Burundi, South Sudan, the Central African Republic and Niger.

The top 10 countries in the index were as follows: 

• 1. Norway
• 2. Switzerland
• 3. Ireland
• 4. = Germany
• 4. = Hong Kong
• 6. = Australia
• 6. = Iceland
• 8. Sweden
• 9. Singapore
• 10. Netherlands

You can see the full ranking, with a detailed explanation of how the index scores are calculated, in the Human Development Report 2019.