Noorwegen beste land om te wonen (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS -
Ireland is the best place to live within the European Union, according to an annual United Nations report on standard of living
However, Norway comes top overall in the UN's human development index, a ranking that takes into account the domestic economy, life expectancy, literacy rates and school enrollment.
Niger meanwhile comes at the bottom of the list of 182 countries.
Australia, Iceland and Canada round out the top four in the ranking, which is based on the most recent data available, from 2007, and so does not take into account the global economic crisis, which hit both Ireland and Iceland very hard.
Ireland is the top EU country on the list, clocking in at number five, followed by the perennial winners of these sort of contests, the Netherlands and Sweden at six and seven respectively.
France made back into the top ten after dropping out for a year, at eighth place. Finishing off the top ten are non-EU state Switzerland and Japan.
Most western European countries also do well in the rankings,
Luxembourg comes 11th, which is chased by Finland (12th) and the US (13th), which in turn is followed by a clutch of EU members: Austria (14th), Spain (15th), Denmark (16th), Belgium (17th), and Italy (18th).
The UK, on 20th place, just pips Germany, at 21, while Greece was found to be the 25th best country in the world.
The top ‘new' member state on the list is Slovenia (29), followed by Cyprus (32), which beat the home country of European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Portugal (34).
The central European Czechs, at 36, come wedged between the sunny United Arab Emirates and sunnier still Barbados. Malta, also very sunny, ranks 38th in the index and is also the bottom country within the UN's category of "Very High Human Development".
Within the next category down, "High Human Development," top of the list out of EU states is Estonia (40th), followed by Poland, Slovakia and Hungary. Lithuania managed to win 46th place, while fellow Baltic state Latvia arrived at 48th.
Bulgaria made 61st place, between Panama and Saint Kitts and Nevis, while Romania made 63rd, just ahead of Trinidad and Tobago.
"Despite significant improvements over time, progress has been uneven," said the report's lead
author Jeni Klugman.
"Many countries have experienced setbacks over recent decades, in the face of economic downturns, conflict-related crises and the HIV and AIDS epidemic. And this was even before the impact of the current global financial crisis was felt."
The bottom three ranked countries in this year's list, were Sierra Leone, Afghanistan (included for the first time since 1996) and Niger.
The report explained that a child born in Niger can expect to live to just over 50 years, which is 30 years fewer than a child born in Norway. Furthermore, the differences in per capita income are enormous: for every dollar earned per person in Niger, $85 are earned in Norway.
"The persistent inequality in the distribution of world incomes should continue to be a source of concern for policy makers and international institutions," said Ms Klugman.