The third edition of the Legatum Prosperity Index was released this week. This index ranks 104 countries (accounting for 90% of the world’s population) based on a definition of prosperity that combines economic growth with measures of happiness and quality of life.
The 9 areas the Legatum Prosperity Index looks at are:
1. Economic Fundamentals
2. Entrepreneurship and Innovation
3. Education
4. Democratic Institutions
5. Governance
6. Health
7. Personal Freedom
8. Security
9. Social Capital
The highest-ranking South American countries are Uruguay (33rd), Chile (36th) and Argentina (38th). The lowest performing country in South America is Venezuela (74th), just ahead of Bolivia (73rd) and Ecuador (71st).
Uruguay scored especially well in 3 areas:
• Personal freedom at 14th
• Safety and security at 26th
• Health at 28th
Full details about Uruguay’s rankings in the 2009 Legatum Prosperity Index can be found here. If you want to see how Uruguay’s ranking stacks up against the US, click here.
Since Ecuador was our second choice if Uruguay didn’t work out for us, we were surprised how low it scored on the Index given its preference as a hot spot for expats. In fact, International Living named Ecuador the World's Best Retirement Haven for 2009. It just shows how it important it is to get your information from multiple sources when deciding where to live as an expat.
Read the Index’s key findings related to South America here.
More information on the Prosperity Index, including full country rankings, background on data and methodology, and profiles of each country can be found at www.prosperity.com.