Currently, more and more people are considering living in another country. This may be due to retirement, a job search, a desire to gain new experience or to find a lifestyle that they cannot achieve in their country. In this case, it is necessary to take into account many different factors, such as cost of living, real estate market, employment opportunities, access to education and child care, the culture of the country in which you plan to live, and any language barriers that you may encounter.
Development indicators
All this represents the quality of life that a country can offer, and this is often a decisive factor for many people. An idea of the required criteria can be obtained by looking at the index of quality of life in different countries, which is a composite criterion consisting of certain selected social indicators.
These indicators include: the availability of food, medical facilities, literacy and education, the environment, the ratio of working time and working conditions, social opportunities, human rights, free time and its opportunities for it, etc. It is impossible to include all the determinants welfare in the construction of the index of quality of life, because many of these variables are associated with value judgments, there is no single methodological approach to its assessment. Many surveys are conducted annually to determine the country that offers the best quality of life based on various aspects.
Below is the data from one of the InterNations research results for 2017: the top 10 countries on such factors as travel and transportation, health and well-being, safety and security, leisure options and personal happiness.
10th place - Germany
A high percentage of the English-speaking population and opportunities to work in international companies are just two reasons why people choose to move to Germany.
The culture of this country also easily adapts to people from other European countries or the United States. The key points of the survey, in which Germany showed the best results, were travel and transportation, as it is in fifth place in this subcategory. Good grades were obtained in the category of health and well-being, ranking 6th. From a security point of view, the inhabitants of Germany are quite happy, this is reflected in the 17th position. The areas in which Germany showed poor performance are leisure options (42nd place) and personal happiness (55th place).
9th place - Costa Rica
A beautiful and diverse country with a fantastic climate. This is one of the countries that left the top five since 2016, but still managed to maintain a place in the top ten in the index. Many people find her attractive when they consider moving abroad, and people from this country do not want to leave, because they are afraid that they will not achieve a similar standard of living in other countries of the world. Despite the drop in the index, Costa Rica still ranks 4th in personal happiness and 5th in leisure options. She also ranks 10th in health and well-being and 20th in security. The reason for the downgrade was travel and transportation, because in this subcategory it is in 35th place.
8th place - Switzerland
Zurich is the financial center of Switzerland and many come here to find work in international financial companies. This country also attracts people who seek to take advantage of winter sports or want to live surrounded by the magnificent beauty of nature.
Switzerland ranks first in the safety list and third in the travel and transportation category. Enters the top 20 in terms of health and well-being, occupying 18th place. It was these high results that led Switzerland to take 8th place in the overall ranking. Nevertheless, this is a country of two extremes, as it occupies 37th place in the ranking of leisure options and 56th place for personal happiness.
7th place - Austria
Austria dropped from fifth to seventh place last year, losing ground in some subcategories. Despite this, it is still the second best country in terms of health and well-being. Another area in which Austria has achieved good results is travel and transportation. People living in this country note that travel and transportation systems increase the efficiency and convenience of life here. Enters the top 20 for security, taking 19th place. The areas where Austria showed poor results are leisure (27th place) and personal happiness (53rd place).
6th place - Japan
Last year, Japan entered the top five countries in terms of quality of life. Despite this drop, she still shows fairly good performance in each category.
This is the 4th place in the rating for safety and protection, 7th in the category of health and well-being and 9th in the category of travel and transport. Two areas where Japan got poor results are leisure options (33rd place) and personal happiness (48th place).
5th place - Czech Republic
The Czech Republic has a unique culture and is a country with a rich history. The relatively low cost of living attracts people to live here. The area in which the Czech Republic scored the most points is travel and transport (4th place). In terms of safety, it is in 16th place, and in terms of health and well-being - one place lower. The Czech Republic takes the 18th place in the choice of leisure and the 20th place in personal happiness.
4th place - Singapore
Singapore is becoming an increasingly popular place to live and people from all over the world are moving to this country due to amazing job opportunities, diverse culture and city noise. In 2016, this country ranked 8th overall, but it climbed four steps and finished fourth this year. One reason for this growth is that Singapore now ranks first in the travel and transportation ranking. The capital has excellent infrastructure, and people who travel to work from the neighborhood can easily get to work. Another area in which this country has achieved good results is security and protection, as it is the third best country on the list. Singapore is relatively well rated in the category of health and well-being, occupying the 24th place, and the country is 23rd in the choice of leisure. However, Singapore is poorly ranked 43rd in the personal happiness index.
3rd place - Spain
Spain is one of the best places for people who go on a Mediterranean vacation. Warm coastal areas and diverse cities are attractive attractions for those who prefer to live in Europe. It is the climate and interesting cultural attractions that inspire people to visit this country and even move here forever.
Another reason people want to live in Spain is the index of the quality of life of the population. Despite the fact that she takes third place in the general list, Spain is actually in first place for the choice of rest. This country also excels in the category of personal happiness, ranking sixth. In the subcategory of health and well-being, Spain occupies the 12th place, and the same position in the list of travel and transport. The subcategory that brings Spain is security and protection, as it only takes 25th place in this section of the survey.
2nd place - Taiwan
Last year, Taiwan led the list of countries with the best quality of life. Although this year she sank one position, the inhabitants of this country still believe that she presents fantastic prospects for life.
In the category of health and well-being, it goes to the first place, and in the field of travel and transport it takes sixth place in the overall classification. The categories that downgraded Taiwan were leisure and personal happiness options. In the first case, the country took the 20th place in the list, and in the second - only the 24th.
1st place - Portugal
Portugal has made one of the biggest changes to the list since 2016, having climbed 13 places and now ranks first in the list. This country has always been a popular tourist destination due to its beautiful surroundings and excellent climate. Nevertheless, a happy life depends not only on pleasant memories of holidays, and those who moved to Portugal testify to the decent lifestyle that this country can offer to expatriates.
To become an absolute leader in the list, Portugal received high marks for all indicators in all subcategories and the country's quality of life index is very high. Her best rating was for vacation options, as she is in second place in this subcategory. She also worked well in the personal happiness section, taking third place. In terms of health and well-being, Portugal entered the top ten countries, taking 9th place. The two areas where she scored less good, although she is still among the top 20 countries on the list, were: safety and security (11th place), travel and transportation (14th place).
As can be seen from this list, the category of personal happiness is the weakest point in most countries. Apparently, it really depends on us and hardly any country can give it to us.
Does GNP level determine the quality of life
D. Morris evaluated three indicators: life expectancy, infant mortality rate, and literacy rate. For each indicator, he developed a scale that includes numbers in the range from 1 to 100, where 1 represents the worst indicators in any country, and 100 represents the best indicators. After normalizing these three indicators, Morris proposed taking a simple arithmetic mean of three indicators to build the so-called Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI). It turns out that a high level of GNP per capita is not a guarantee of a better quality of life. Compared to GNP indicators, this method has several advantages, as it takes into account welfare considerations and combines the fruits of economic growth with improved human potential. The GNP measure is criticized for not shedding light on the distribution of income, while PQLI also analyzes the nature of income distribution, as this may affect longer life expectancy, lower infant mortality rates and higher literacy levels due to better income distribution. However, this is a limited measure, as it does not include many of the social and psychological properties that have been determined by the quality of life measure, such as security, justice, and human rights.
