Switzerland: Best Place to be Born

According to a list of nations with the best quality of life, Switzerland is the best place to be born in 2013. India occupies a lowly 66th spot while Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh are at numbers 63, 75 and 77.

People born in Switzerland will tend to be the happiest and have the best quality of life in terms of wealth, health and trust in public institutions, the Daily Mail cited the study by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a sister company of The Economist, as saying.

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Switzerland, with a population of around eight million, topped the chart, jumping from 13th place in a similar exercise in 1988.

Scandinavian countries Norway, Sweden and Denmark all make the top five in the "quality-of-life" index.

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The EIU attempted to measure which country will provide the best opportunities for a healthy, safe and prosperous life in years to come.

It used 11 statistically significant indicators, including geography, demography, social and cultural characteristics, public policy, the state of the world economy and future income per head.

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One of the most important factors was being rich but other factors included crime, trust in public institutions and health of family life.

Australia came second, Singapore sixth, the Netherlands eighth, Canada ninth and Hong Kong came 10th on the list, the report said. The US comes in at 16, tied with Germany.

Crisis-ridden European countries, including Greece, Portugal and Spain, lag behind despite a favourable climate.

The largest European economies - Germany, France and Britain - also do not do well, the report said.

China comes at 49 while Russia is at 72.

The 1988 study, while also carried out by the EIU, was "not entirely serious", the daily said. It then included a factor for "cultural poverty" and another to measure how boring a country was. Switzerland score badly on both.

Source-IANS