Australia Top Country To Live In For Prosperity
October 15th, 2008 | Published in Economy
Australia has placed first in a prosperity index of more than 100 countries. A combination of the country’s economic competitiveness and liveability pushed it to the top of the tree.
The Legatum Institute’s Prosperity Index measures prosperity in 104 nations, with an emphasis on wealth and quality of life.
Australia led the 2008 index ahead of Austria, Finland, Germany, Singapore and the USA. The average Australian is richer than the average citizen of Britain, France or Germany.
The Institute’s comments on Australia touched on the negatives it had identified as well as the positives:
“Since market deregulation in the 1980s, the ‘Lucky Country’ has reinvented itself as a wealthy service-oriented economy, currently benefiting from the rise of China and the global boom in commodities.
“Consistently strong drivers of prosperity, particularly education and government effectiveness, place Australia at the top of the overall Index, ranking 10th on Comparative Liveability and 6th on Economic Competitiveness.
“Australia’s expansion has created labour shortages and led to increased immigration levels, with one in four of the population born overseas.
“Australians have the highest sport participation rates in the world, complemented by good environmental indicators, particularly air quality and land area devoted to nature.
“However, rising prosperity has not included much of Australia’s indigenous population, and the nation faces long-term environmental challenges.
“Natural assets such as the Great Barrier Reef are at risk of severe deterioration, and in 2008 the country faced its worst drought in recorded history.”
In terms of prosperity, Australia’s five top features were:
- Capital per worker
- Education
- Quality of regulation
- Patents
- Research in R&D
And for quality of life, Australia’s five top features were:
- Income
- Healthy life expectancy
- Government effectiveness
- Charitable giving
- Control of corruption
