IL Postcard

The Best-And Worst-Places to Live In the World: Our 19th Annual Index

Date: 12/31/1999

This article originally appeared in the January 2000 issue of International Living in print. It has now been made available for all readers.

For the first time in six years, there's a new winner for best quality of life in the world. It's Canada.

Boosted by a strong economy that outpaced even the United States' for the second and third quarters of last year, the country will soon have lots of leftover money-more than was expected only a few months ago.

Surpluses in the next five years are expected to total 90 billion Canadian dollars (US$61 billion)- not bad for a country plagued by large deficits in the early 90s.

Canada's strong economy was just what it needed to push it past it's southern neighbor, despite the fact that the U.S. is moving into the next century as the world's only superpower, superior in technology, military power, and business energy.

Several factors give Canada the edge…

universal health care ("We don't check your credit card in the hospital on the way to check your pulse," says Brian Tobin, premier of Newfoundland), and

state schools, which are generally good-and cheap (Canada has the highest college attendance rate in the world)

its one of the cleanest, safest, and least corrupt places in the world

Unemployment, however, is still at about twice the US rate.

But Canada's purchasing power is well above its value on the foreign exchange markets, giving it one of the lowest costs of living of the industrialized countries. Housing is cheap, and big. In fact the country has the biggest average house size in the world.

Plus, Canada is essentially without what many Canadian politicians call America's "three Gs": guns, ghettoes, and gated communities.

Canada is certainly a kinder, gentler country than the U.S. The Boy Scouts of Canada recently accepted an entire gay troop-the only reason it got any press was because a group of American reporters wanted the story. The country's greatest crises, if you can even it that, occurs when a province threaten to leave-which they never will. Canada has one of the longest lifespans in the industrialized world… and is one of the most beautiful.

The country is not completely without it's American-like problems, however. A week after the Colorado high school shootings, a 14-year old in Taber, Alberta walked into his former high school and opened fire, killing one student, injuring another.

New Technologies subhead:

Technological globalization has brought much of America to Canada-almost every home gets American television and radio.

New technologies are improving things elsewhere as well. Most obviously in the industrialized countries, but also in some places you might not expect: the East Asian Tigers, Chile, the Dominican Republic, India, Mauritius, Poland, Hungary and Turkey to name a few. Each of these countries has averaged export growth of more than 5% a year since the 1980s.

At the other extreme are the many countries for whom globalization and new technologies aren't doing a lick of good: Madagascar, Niger, Russia, Tajikistan, and Venezuela, for example. These have countries have shown no growth, and have attracted virtually no foreign investment.

The Best of Latin America

Latin America is a mixed bag. Of 33 Latin American countries, only four-Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Guyana-will have grown at an average rate of 5% or more for the full decade. And as a whole, Latin America (for the second decade in a row) is poorer now than it was ten years ago.

But if you look hard enough, there are a few bright spots. One of the best bets in the Caribbean is the Dominican Republic. President Fernandez's 1996 reforms (devaluating the peso, income tax cuts, 50% increase in sales taxes, and reduced import tariffs), have helped create a successful market economy, which grew vigorously over the past two years

Tourism and telecommunications lead the way. The government is working to increase electric generating capacity, a key to keeping the economy growing. But privatization of the state electricity company has met all kinds of delays. The downside to DR: Bad storms threaten every summer. In late September 1998, Hurricane Georges caused about $1.3 billion in damages to the country's infrastructure. Unemployment is at about 16%

Another good bet is Chile, which finished ?? in the overall standings. It has a prosperous, essentially free-market economy, hospitable natives, and a sophistication matched only by Brazil among it's Latin neighbors. Chile turns out smart kids. The educational system is based on the old French standard.

The country's social security program is a model in efficiency, and is being studied by many Latin American and European countries, as well as Russia, and even the U.S.

Civilian governments-which took over from the military in March 1990-have continued to reduce the government's role in the economy. Inflation has been on a downward trend and hit a 60-year low in 1998. Mining, although it accounts for less of the economic output than it used to, is still the biggest industry. Unemployment is around 6.4%.

Paraguay seems to be turning things around as well. Two military coups have been recently thwarted and the courts strengthened. But the government still doesn't spend it's money well: 85% goes to salaries, 10% on debt servicing and only 5% on services and investments.

The Other Side

The rest of Latin America isn't faring so well. Many of the countries, including Venezuela, Colombia, and Jamaica, have a lower per capita income now than they did 10 years ago.

In Peru, Fujimori rules as an autocrat, but still gets a lot of popular support. In May, the New York Committee to Protect Journalists named him one of the world's top 10 enemies of free press, putting him in the same category with Cuba's Fidel Castro and Serbia's Slobodan Milosevic.

Venezuela elected as President Hugo Chavez, even though he led a failed military coup in 1992. Five year's after Haiti's military takeover was reversed, the country is still in disarray.

Jamaica, in particular, is a mess. The statistics have caught up with the problems-and the country dropped about XX places in the final standings this year. It has been in relentless decline for the past few years. There are economic troubles, drugs, and criminal violence. In a country of 2.6 million, there were 953 murders, most of them in the capital, Kingston (pop 707,000) and 145 suspected criminals were shot dead by police. Even long-time resident Johnny Cash is down on his favorite country.

Many other island states too have had their problems, but show signs of progress. Not Jamaica. It's economy is still slumping and the government is struggling just to maintain law and order. Local gang leaders, the dons, control drugs and protection rackets. The GDP has fallen by 7% since 1991. And debt interest eats up 41% of government revenue. There have been several riots in the past year.

Bright Spots in Eastern Europe

All the countries of Central and Eastern Europe have taken to democracy with high hopes, but many, such as the Czech Republic, have realized how hard it is, politically and economically. Poland and Hungary are two of the bright standouts… at least on paper.

Poland is the most successful of the transitioning former Eastern bloc countries. But there are still problems, most noticeably, a Mafia, Neo Nazis, environmental problems, poverty and crime.

Despite those stains, the country continues to do better economically. A decade ago, as the Cold War was ending, Poland's government enterprises accounted for 68% of the GDP. Today, government operations account for only 30%. The over 70% comes from the private sector. Ship building businesses are doing especially well.

Hungary's numbers are getting better as well-although the country has by far the highest suicide rate in the world, and the highest death rate from cancer.

Slovakia's economy is growing, making it only slightly easier to overlook some very serious problems. The so-called democracy is a temporary scam. Remember, it was only a few years ago that the president's son was kidnapped, stuck in the trunk of a car, and dumped on a highway in Austria. At least one group seems to like the quality of life in Slovakia-that's the Russian mob. And Slovakia is one of the few places to have passed a law allowing the prosecution of writers who accurately report on the place. It's improving, but needs a more years at least.

Poverty is so bad in the Ukraine that the 45% of the voters in the most recent presidential elections supported Communist or socialist candidates.

Western problems have moved into Eastern Europe as well. Drug related crimes increased from 4 per 100,000 people in Belarus in 1990 to 28 in 1997, and from 1 per 100,000 in Estonia to 8.

Home Improvements

Our home turf, Ireland, continues to have one of the highest Qualities of life in the world… and it's only getting better.

The economy is booming. And it's extremely safe and relatively cheap compared to mainland Europe. Economic growth has averaged 9.5% from 1995-98. Agriculture, once the most important sector, is now dwarfed by industry, which accounts for 39% of the GDP and employs almost a third of the labor force. Ireland has the third-highest computer usage per capita in the world.

Over the past decade, the Irish government has put together a series of economic programs designed to curb inflation, reduce government spending, and promote foreign investment (that's why we're here!). Unemployment is at an all-time low, but is still relatively high (about 6%).

Across St. Georges Channel, the United Kingdom is also doing well with a steadily growing economy and relatively low inflation. The country is still undecided on the EU issue and still relies heavily on coal, natural gas, and oil reserves, which account for about 10% of the GDP-one of the highest ratios in the world for an industrialized country.

The beef war with France continues. UK beef has been declared safe by scientists, but the French won't let it in the country. By the way you can now get a divorce on the Internet in Britain. Just pay your $100 and lawyers take care of the rest.

Two Winners in Northern Africa

Two bright spots in Africa are Morocco and Tunisia. Morocco's new young leader, King Hassan II, makes the place even better. GDP grew 6.8% in 1998 and is expected to grow 4% this year. As many improving countries are doing, the government is privatizing state enterprises. Don't be too surprised if it joins the EU in 5 years.

Tunisia is doing well too. It's got a diverse economy, with important agricultural, mining, energy, tourism (part of the original Star Wars was filmed here), and manufacturing sectors. Governmental controls are lessening. Tourism is strong. And the agreement with the European Union, entered into force on 1 March 1998, was the first one between the EU and a Mediterranean country to be activated. Inflation stands at about 3.3%, unemployment 15.6%.

A Slow Turnaround in the East

Economic recovery seems to be on the way in most of East Asia, especially in Korea (GDP is expected to increase 5-8% over last year)… and least of all in Indonesia.

Indonesia might be in trouble for a while. The guy who just became president is about to die. Suharto and Habibie's people still run everything. Terror and fraud are the norm. It is a huge country (about 17,000 islands, 6,000 of which are inhabited) that may not see the year 2005. And it wasn't long ago that riots in the streets of Jakarta, directed mainly at the country's prosperous Chinese, who were raped, murdered and driven from their homes.

Albania confirmed it's place as one of Europe's poorest countries when roughly half the population sunk practically their whole life savings into collapsing pyramid schemes.

Where to Go If You're Poor

The Nordic countries (Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Iceland), always do well in our Quality of Life Surveys. But we don't look at these countries for much beyond our annual survey for several reasons: 1) taxes in every one of these countries are among the highest in the world (in Denmark, for instance, a tax rate of 60% kicks in at earnings of less than $38,000 a year.) 2) they don't let in many foreigners (There are few immigrants, except in the big cities) and 3) there's little privacy (Most public documents are in the Public domain. Ordinary citizens in Sweden have the right to see the prime minister's mail… and often do! Plus, In most Nordic countries, your tax return can be held up for public scrutiny).

But if you're poor, this is the place to go. Poverty is nearly invisible in the Nordic countries. In fact, nowhere else are the poor so generously treated. Most notable is the day-care system: All young children, up to the age of primary school, are provided good quality, heavily subsidized daycare-so the mothers can go back to work.

Each Nordic country has been growing faster than the EU average over the past three years, save Sweden. But tax rates have risen even faster. Something will have to change in the coming years Birthrates are so low that the countries are in danger of becoming underpopulated. Finland even has baby incentives, to encourage its people to procreate. These countries may have to open their doors to foreigners soon.

Numbers You Might Not Believe

Every year, when sifting through literally thousands statistics, we come across some interesting numbers and trends. Here are a few:

The United States' single largest export industry is no longer aircraft or automobiles, it's entertainment-Hollywood films grossed more than $30 billion worldwide in 1997.

The number of television sets per 1,000 people almost doubled around the world from 1980 to 1995, from 121 to 235.

More than 80 countries still have a per capital income lower than it was a decade ago. While 40 countries have had average capital income growth of more than 3% a year since 1990, 55 countries, mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States, have had declining per capita incomes.

Thailand has more cellular phones than all of Africa.

There were 62 separate states in 1914, 74 in 1946, and 193 now.

France is the first traditionally Catholic country to recognize homosexual unions-despite the fact that more than 200,000 French marched through Paris earlier in the year.

Iran hosts more than 2 million refugees, mostly Afghans and Iraqi Kurds, more than any other country in the world. The country also has 9% of the world's proven oil reserves and is the largest producer of pistachios.

India consumes more butter than anywhere else in the world, Switzerland more chocolate, Cuba more sugar, Finland more coffee, the United States more gas and meat, Luxembourg more alcohol, France more wine, the Czech Republic more beer, and Ireland more tea.

Other boxes:

Most-And Least-Corrupt

Most Corrupt:

Indonesia

China

Pakistan

Venezuela

Brazil

Philippines

India

Thailand

Italy

Mexico

Least Corrupt

Norway

Netherlands

Switzerland

Australia

Canada

Sweden

Finland

Singapore

Denmark

New Zealand

Source: Transparency International

Where Americans Go

Top 5 Countries Where Americans Live Overseas

Mexic 539,000

Germany: 354,000

Canada: 296,000

UK: 255,000

Israel: 112,000

Source: Statistical Abstract of the U.S.

Highest Suicide Rates

Hungary

Finland

Denmark

Austria

Belgium

Switzerland

France

Czech Republic

Sweden

Japan

Source: Illustrated World Rankings

Where Tourists Go

The following countries get the most tourists:

France

United States

Spain

Italy

UK

China

Poland

Mexico

Canada

Czech Republic

Source: World Tourism Organization IL