Standard of Living by Country | Quality of Life by Country 2024

Snapshot

Numbeo's Quality of Life Index, the U.S. News Best Countries Report, and the United Nations' Human Development Index provide distinct methodologies to measure and rank countries' quality of life or standard of living.
Norway, Denmark, Finland, Switzerland, and Netherlands consistently ranked in the top 10 countries in terms of quality of life or standard of living according to the most recent data from all three mentioned institutions.
Safety, health care, economic factors (including affordability), and education are factors commonly used in assessments by Numbeo, U.S. News, and the United Nations.

Standard of living refers to the level of wealth, comfort, necessities, and material goods available to a particular geographic area. It is closely related to (and often used interchangeably with) quality of life, which is generally understood to include the same measures of prosperity as standard of living, but also incorporates physical and mental health and wellness. Because standard of living and quality of life are broad and slightly ambiguous terms, no universally agreed-upon technique exists for measuring them. So, statisticians invent all manner of interesting equations, systems, and surveys that attempt the unlikely task of boiling down quality of life (or on rarer occasions, standard of living) into a simple number.

The Quality of Life index

One of the most comprehensive equations is Numbeo's Quality of Life Index, which measures eight indices:

purchasing power (including rent)

safety
health care
cost of living

property price to income ratio
traffic commute time
pollution

climate.

Purchasing power, cost of living, and property price to income ratio are measures of the average citizen's financial wherewithal in a country, which connects directly to the standard of living. Traffic commute time is self-explanatory but vital (as any commuter will testify).

The safety index covers concerns about robberies, car theft, and other crimes, as well as the prevalence of drugs, property crime, violent crimes, and corruption and bribery. The health care index estimates the overall quality of the health care system, starting with costs to the patient and moving on to quality of care, equipment, doctors, and staff. The pollution index estimates the overall pollution in the country. Air pollution is given the greatest weight, followed by water pollution and access to clean water. The climate index is the climate likability of a given country. Countries with a climate index of 100 have moderate temperatures, low humidity, and no significant weather events or conditions. Here is the ordered list of countries based on these indices.

Top 10 Countries* with the Highest Quality of Life, mid-2024 - Numbeo

Country	Quality of Life (Numbeo 2024)
Luxembourg	219.3
Netherlands	207.5
Denmark	205.6
Oman	204.3
Switzerland	204
Finland	199.9
Iceland	199.7
Austria	190.8
Norway	189
Sweden	186.7

*The full data for each list can be seen in the table further down this page. Clearly, Northern Europe is home to some very satisfied people. However, the Numbeo equation is far from the only one used to measure quality of life.

Top 10 Countries with the Highest Quality of Life - U.S. News Best Countries Report 2023

Country	QoL (US News 2023)
Iran	0.8
Lebanon	2.1
Belarus	3.1
Uzbekistan	3.2
Azerbaijan	3.4
Kazakhstan	3.8
Algeria	4.1
Honduras	4.1
Zimbabwe	4.8
El Salvador	5

The U.S. News and World Report's annual "Best Countries Report", assembled in partnership with the BAV Group and The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, uses detailed surveys to track a similar, but different set of indicators. These include affordability, safety, the job market, level of income equality, economic and political stability, and the quality of public education and health systems. The Numbeo and the U.S. News lists include many of the same countries, but because of differences in either the survey questions or the methodologies, the countries are ordered differently on the two lists.

Top 10 Countries with Highest Human Development Index, 2021/2022 Report - United Nations

Country	HDI (UN 2022)
Switzerland	0.97
Norway	0.97
Iceland	0.96
Hong Kong	0.96
Denmark	0.95
Sweden	0.95
Ireland	0.95
Germany	0.95
Singapore	0.95
Australia	0.95

Despite its more academic name, the United Nations' Human Development Index (HDI) tracks many of the same factors as do Numbeo and the U.S. News to measure quality of life or standard of living. However, while most of the surveys on this page are based upon exactly that—surveys—the HDI is based more on empirical data, such as life expectancy, years of schooling, and GNI per capita. Nonetheless, many of the same countries appear in the top 10.

Source

While Numbeo and U.S. News largely rely on surveys and subjective perceptions to rank quality of living, the United Nations' Human Development Index (HDI) primarily uses empirical (objective) data, such as life expectancy and GNI per capita.

Many measures of Quality of Life exist, each with a unique methodology. Several such measures are compiled here.
Numbeo's Quality of Life Index estimates the overall quality of life in a city or country by analyzing a range of indicators, including purchasing power, pollution levels, housing affordability, cost of living, safety, healthcare quality, commute times, and climate conditions. The index is designed to provide a comparative measure, where a higher index value indicates a better quality of life.
The US News Quality of Life subranking is based on an equally weighted average of scores from nine country attributes that relate to quality of life in a country: affordable, a good job market, economically stable, family friendly, income equality, politically stable, safe, well-developed public education system and well-developed public health system.
CEO World's Quality of Life rankings are based on the perceptions of more than 258,000 people worldwide who were asked to evaluate 199 nations based on ten metrics ranging from stability to transparency to equality. The rankings measure global perceptions of nations that contribute most to the world’s GDP.
The Human Development Index (HDI) assesses a country's average achievements in health, education, and income, reflecting its level of overall human development and, by extension, its quality of life.

198 countries

Country	Quality of Life (Numbeo 2024)	QoL (US News 2023)	QoL (CEO World 2024)	HDI (UN 2022)	Quality of Life (Numbeo 2023)	QoL (US News 2022)	QoL (CEO World 2021)	HDI (UN 2021)
Luxembourg	219.3	62.1	97.56	0.93	200.1		85.08	0.93
Netherlands	207.5	87.7	95.95	0.95	200.1	7	93.69	0.94
Denmark	205.6	91.4	96.44	0.95	190.6	2	98.13	0.95
Oman	204.3	8.9	82.68	0.82	184.8	70	76.32	0.82
Switzerland	204	90.3	97.13	0.97	185.8	5	94.4	0.96
Finland	199.9	90.6	94.48	0.94	188.1	8	99.06	0.94
Iceland	199.7		96.51	0.96	191.1		84.96	0.96
Austria	190.8	78.9	95.41	0.93	183.3	11	88.52	0.92
Norway	189	93.6	97.04	0.97	181.8	4	96.75	0.96
Sweden	186.7	100	94.94	0.95	174.8	3	96.15	0.95
Australia	185.5	86.8	96.34	0.95	165.7	6	88.23	0.95
United States	185.1	49.1	96.65	0.93	173	20	89.11	0.92
Germany	185	85.8	92.58	0.95	176	9	91.26	0.94
New Zealand	184.4	80	91.91	0.94	170.9	10	86.02	0.94
Japan	183.8	69.6	88.04	0.92	175.5	13	91.23	0.93
Estonia	183.5	17.5	86.22	0.9	176.4	48	82.87	0.89
Qatar	182.9	33.9	96.66	0.88	166.6	34	82.24	0.85
Spain	180.8	59	87.76	0.91	177.7	19	87.62	0.91
Slovenia	177.7	15.4	87.04	0.93	169.3	54	76.77	0.92
United Arab Emirates	177.5	41.2	92.39	0.94	173.8	24	83.79	0.91
Croatia	172.1	24.9	81.98	0.88	161.6	37	80.11	0.86
Czech Republic	171.9	28.5	86.06	0.9	162.3
United Kingdom	170.6	73.9	92.26	0.94	164.2	14	90.68	0.93
Lithuania	170.6	11.7	85.57	0.88	160.4	56	77.55	0.88
Saudi Arabia	170.5	27.6	87.61	0.88	150.7	33	77.75	0.88
Portugal	167.5	58	85.44	0.87	166.5	21	86.38	0.87
Belgium	163.5	79.7	94.14	0.94	156.4	12	96.53	0.94
Singapore	162.3	50.3	96.81	0.95	153.2	16	87.64	0.94
Canada	161.3	92.7	94.02	0.94	156.4	100	90.3	0.94
Ireland	161.3	62.7	97.16	0.95	153.2	15	87.76	0.94
France	159.8	59.6	91.28	0.91	153.2	17	92.08	0.9
Latvia	159.4	10.1	85.39	0.88	152.6	50	80.68	0.86
Taiwan	158.5		86.61		144.9
Israel	157.6	17.8	93	0.92	147.2	36	84.43	0.92
Cyprus	154.8	13.4	89.62	0.91	146.5		83.39	0.9
Slovakia	154.4	16.1	84.78	0.85	148.2	46	81.08	0.85
Kuwait	152.5		86.54	0.85	129.7		79.39	0.83
South Korea	149.5	45.2	87.99	0.93	138.1	18	89.67	0.93
Poland	149.3	49.4	84.57	0.88	139.6	25	81.82	0.88
South Africa	147.1	12.7	68.5	0.72	136.9		77.94	0.71
Italy	145.6	51.4	90.32	0.91	140.3	22	86.85	0.9
Uruguay	142.7	11	83.63	0.83	136.2	55	76.56	0.81
Hungary	139.7	24.3	82.59	0.85	131.6	30	83.26	0.85
Bulgaria	139.6	18.3	80.09	0.8	131.4	42	79.46	0.8
Romania	137.4	18.8	81.58	0.83	129.9	44	79.08	0.82
Hong Kong	134.5		92.41	0.96	105.5		84.64	0.95
Malaysia	133.5	26.4	79.28	0.81	123.4	28	82.34	0.8
Greece	131.5	32.4	84.77	0.89	128.9	26	83.39	0.89
Turkey	128.8	25.6	79.48	0.85	118.3	40	78.72	0.84
Mexico	126.6	18.5	79.93	0.78	125	41	81.46	0.76
Belarus	125	3.1	71.33	0.8	117	72	76.46	0.81
India	123.8	19	60.81	0.64	116.1	38	82.95	0.63
Ecuador	122.3	7.8	69.03	0.77	119.8	65	75.52	0.74
Jordan	120.7	8	65.52	0.74	116.3	68	71.15	0.72
Panama	120.7	7	81.64	0.82	116.8	62	77.95	0.81
Georgia	120.6		73.4	0.81	116		68.73	0.8
Serbia	120.2	6.1	75.4	0.81	113.1	74	74.13	0.8
China	116.4	76.1	77.97	0.79	105.1	23	82.8	0.77
Argentina	116.1	17.5	79.39	0.85	110.2	59	81.93	0.84
North Macedonia	115.3		72.18	0.77	109.4		72.02	0.77
Brazil	113.5	17	74.22	0.76	106.8	52	82.38	0.75
Azerbaijan	112.5	3.4	71.41	0.76	108.5	73	71.01	0.74
Morocco	111.9	16	63.92	0.7	104.7	47	79.69	0.68
Russia	111.2	14.5	78.84	0.82	104.2	31	82.06	0.83
Ukraine	110.7		65.96	0.73	107.3	61	78.86	0.77
Colombia	106.5	8.6	70.27	0.76	99.2	60	77.16	0.75
Kenya	106.4	7.3	57.86	0.6	103.5	69	74.8	0.57
Pakistan	104.5		52.98	0.54	101.4		57.18	0.54
Albania	103.5		73.06	0.79			68.96	0.8
Chile	103.3	13.5	81.28	0.86	99.1	43	77.42	0.85
Kazakhstan	102	3.8	78.34	0.8	96.5	71	75.45	0.81
Indonesia	98.6	20	65.9	0.71	92	35	78.86	0.7
Thailand	98.4	24.8	70.72	0.8	98.5	29	82.69	0.8
Vietnam	97.2	20.5	64.17	0.73	89.3	32	78.49	0.7
Philippines	90.8	20.3	63.57	0.71	82.1	39	82.48	0.7
Lebanon	86.5	2.1	62.2	0.72	82.4	77	76.77	0.71
Egypt	86	13.8	63.27	0.73	88.6	51	77.28	0.73
Peru	84.6	10.5	71.85	0.76	80.3	57	78.77	0.76
Iran	80.4	0.8	64.09	0.78	77.6		73.08	0.77
Sri Lanka	75.2	8.9	62.39	0.78	76.5	58	73.16	0.78
Bangladesh	72.6	11.4	60.87	0.67	69.5		77.22	0.66
Nigeria	42.7		55.2	0.55	49.5		75.49	0.54
Myanmar	5.4		52.67	0.61		67	71.38	0.58
Ethiopia			53.56	0.49			73.05	0.5
DR Congo			48.39	0.48			70.36	0.48
Tanzania			52.01	0.53			75.11	0.55
Sudan			46.84	0.52			31.67	0.51
Uganda			51.56	0.55			73.21	0.53
Algeria		4.1	65.77	0.74			80.96	0.74
Iraq			68.16	0.67		78	74.89	0.69
Afghanistan			46.52	0.46			68.5	0.48
Yemen			47.83	0.42			69.43	0.46
Angola			59.97	0.59			72.57	0.59
Uzbekistan		3.2	59.6	0.73		76	74.79	0.73
Mozambique			48.3	0.46			64.71	0.45
Ghana		6.6	58.5	0.6			72.03	0.63
Madagascar			46.8	0.49			59.95	0.5
Ivory Coast			61.5	0.53			70.14	0.55
Nepal			52.15	0.6			75.66	0.6
Cameroon		5.2	54.86	0.59			70.61	0.58
Venezuela			62.64	0.7	74.4		73.66	0.69
Niger			48.18	0.39			49.43	0.4
North Korea			48.36
Syria			47.04	0.56			31.55	0.58
Mali			50.46	0.41			68.09	0.43
Burkina Faso			49.54	0.44			64.42	0.45
Malawi			47.4	0.51			42.25	0.51
Zambia			53.59	0.57				0.56
Chad			48.6	0.39			58.23	0.39
Somalia			48.82	0.38
Senegal			53.92	0.52				0.51
Guatemala		5.4	66.28	0.63		64	74.11	0.63
Cambodia		12.2	55.89	0.6		49	69.18	0.59
Zimbabwe		4.8	57.54	0.55			70.64	0.59
Guinea			53.85	0.47			60.96	0.47
Benin			52.92	0.5			53.41	0.53
Rwanda			51.08	0.55			51.26	0.53
Burundi			45.68	0.42			36.55	0.43
Bolivia			63.34	0.7				0.69
Tunisia		9.2	64.05	0.73		66	79.54	0.73
South Sudan			46.11	0.38			35.52	0.39
Haiti			57.72	0.55			46.91	0.54
Dominican Republic		10.8	74.79	0.77		53		0.77
Cuba			95.02	0.76			72.74	0.76
Honduras		4.1	62.16	0.62				0.62
Tajikistan			51.59	0.68			41.6	0.69
Papua New Guinea			60.01	0.57				0.56
Togo			50.56	0.55			40.95	0.54
Sierra Leone			45.89	0.46			37.3	0.48
Laos			55.67	0.62				0.61
Turkmenistan			78.03	0.74			70.55	0.74
Libya			67.83	0.75			70.31	0.72
Kyrgyzstan			55.34	0.7			44.81	0.69
Paraguay			67.51	0.73			73.59	0.72
Nicaragua			60.77	0.67				0.67
El Salvador		5	66.79	0.67		75	68.99	0.68
Republic of the Congo			61.54	0.59
Liberia			49	0.49			35.61	0.48
Palestine			62.54	0.72				0.71
Central African Republic			47.23	0.39			35.13	0.4
Mauritania			58.89	0.54			38.08	0.56
Costa Rica		14.6	80.38	0.81			76.46	0.81
Eritrea			48.28	0.49			43.95	0.49
Mongolia			66.01	0.74			63.84	0.74
Puerto Rico			90.28
Moldova				0.76			72.03	0.77
Namibia			65.4	0.61			62.25	0.61
Armenia			73.59	0.79			61.62	0.76
Jamaica			70.19	0.71			65.01	0.71
Gambia			50.31	0.49			34.74	0.5
Gabon			73.64	0.69			68.06	0.71
Botswana			72.43	0.71			68.58	0.69
Lesotho			51.54	0.52				0.51
Guinea Bissau			50.83	0.48				0.48
Equatorial Guinea			69.69	0.65			56.8	0.6
Bahrain		11.2	85.53	0.89			76.76	0.88
Trinidad and Tobago			81.72	0.81				0.81
Timor Leste			53.7	0.57				0.61
Mauritius			77.61	0.8			72.95	0.8
Eswatini			63.97	0.61			37.77	0.6
Djibouti			63.12	0.52			35.39	0.51
Fiji			68.46	0.73				0.73
Comoros			52.2	0.59			33.14	0.56
Guyana			81.94	0.74			37.56	0.71
Solomon Islands			58.11	0.56				0.56
Bhutan			63.09	0.68			80.78	0.67
Macau			94.37
Montenegro			75.61	0.84			38.56	0.83
Suriname			66.95	0.69			36.65	0.73
Malta			90.8	0.92	121.8		83.04	0.92
Maldives			81.34	0.76			67.65	0.75
Cape Verde			64.94	0.66
Brunei			89.01	0.82
Belize			70.66	0.7			34.78	0.68
Bahamas			88.24	0.82				0.81
Vanuatu			62.96	0.61				0.61
Barbados			84.01	0.81				0.79
French Polynesia			81.84
Sao Tome and Principe				0.61				0.62
Samoa			65.03	0.7				0.71
Saint Lucia			79.53	0.72				0.71
Kiribati			57.04	0.63				0.62
Seychelles			82.05	0.8			34.74	0.79
Grenada			77.32	0.79				0.8
Micronesia			64.37	0.63				0.63
Tonga			66.76	0.74				0.74
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines			74.03	0.77				0.75
Andorra			91.19	0.88				0.86
Dominica			73.91	0.74			34.19	0.72
Greenland			95.21
Saint Kitts and Nevis			81.55	0.84				0.78
Liechtenstein			97.73	0.94			84.75	0.94
Monaco			98
Marshall Islands				0.73				0.64
San Marino			95.9	0.87
Palau			79.98	0.8				0.77
Nauru			77.76	0.7
Tuvalu			67.43	0.65

Which country has the best standard of living?

The country with the highest standard of living based on the Quality of Life Index is Luxembourg. Switzerland has the highest Human Development Index, which measures similar factors.

Which country has the worst standard of living?

Somalia has the world's worst standard of living based on the Human Development Index. Myanmar has the lowest Quality of Life Index rating among countries scored by Numbeo.