Econintersect: The Legatum Institute, an independent London based non-partisan public policy organization, has released it’s 2013 Legatum Prosperity Index™. In 2012 the U.S. dropped out of the top ten (to No. 12) for the first time in the index’s five year history. In 2013 there has been a resurgence of sorts to No. 11. The U.S. edged out Ireland and Iceland which were ranked 12 and 13. All of the countries ranked higher than the U.S. are European except for Canada (3), New Zealand (5) and Australia (7). Norway and Switzerland, in that order, topped the list.
Some of the key findings from the 2013 year Index are:
- US drops out of top 20 in the Economy sub-index.
- Latin America and the Caribbean rise above the world average in the Economy sub-index for the first time in 2013.
- Bangladesh overtakes India in overall Prosperity.
- Norway tops the Index for the fifth consecutive year.
- Botswana is the highest ranking Sub-Saharan country for the fifth consecutive year.
- Mexico (27) overtakes Brazil (32) in the economy sub-index (but trails overall).
- UK declines fron 13 to 16 in overall prosperity.
The top 20 countries are:
The bottom 20 countries:
Source: