Switzerland had the highest level of the Human Development Index (HDI) worldwide in 2022 with a value of 0.967. With a score of 0.966, Norway followed closely behind Switzerland and had the second highest level of human development in that year. The rise of the Asian tigers In the decades after the Cold War, the four so-called Asian tigers, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong (now a Special Administrative Region of China) experienced rapid economic growth and increasing human development. At number four and number nine of the HDI, respectively, Hong Kong and Singapore are the only Asian locations within the top 10 highest HDI scores. Both locations have experienced tremendous economic growth since the 1980’s and 1990’s. In 1980, the per capita GDP of Hong Kong was 5,703 U.S. dollars, increasing throughout the decades until reaching 50,029 in 2023, which is expected to continue to increase in the future. Meanwhile, in 1989, Singapore had a GDP of nearly 31 billion U.S. dollars, which has risen to nearly 501 billion U.S. dollars today and is also expected to keep increasing. Growth of the UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the only Middle Eastern country besides Israel within the highest ranking HDI scores globally. Within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the UAE has the third largest GDP behind Saudi Arabia and Israel, reaching nearly 507 billion U.S. dollars by 2022. Per capita, the UAE GDP was around 21,142 U.S. dollars in 1989, and has nearly doubled to 43,438 U.S. dollars by 2021. Moreover, this is expected to reach over 67,538 U.S. dollars by 2029. On top of being a major oil producer, the UAE has become a hub for finance and business and attracts millions of tourists annually.

The average for 2022 based on 37 countries was 81.93 index points. The highest value was in Ireland: 177.64 index points and the lowest value was in Colombia: 22.41 index points. The indicator is available from 1970 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

The average for 2023 based on 193 countries was -0.04 points. The highest value was in Singapore: 2.32 points and the lowest value was in Yemen: -2.28 points. The indicator is available from 1996 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

According to the Cloud Ecosystem Index 2022, Singapore had the best digital infrastructure for cloud in the world, with an index score of 8.48. Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea were the following Asia-Pacific countries that scored high, indicating favorable ecosystems for cloud services in 2022.

Gross domestic product ranking table.

Leading the ranking of the 2022 Social Progress Index was Norway with a total index score of 90.74. Two other Nordic countries, Denmark and Finland, are second and third in the ranking.The Social Progress Index measures the extent of which countries provide for the social and environmental needs of their citizens. The index consists of 53 indicators in total.

Country scientific indicators developed from the information contained in the Scopus® database (Elsevier B.V.). These indicators can be used to assess and analyze scientific domains. Country rankings may be compared or analysed separately. Indicators offered for each country: H Index, Documents, Citations, Citation per Document and Citable Documents.

International property rights index of Kazakhstan fell by 0.65% from 4.6 score in 2022 to 4.6 score in 2023. Since the 5.87% surge in 2021, international property rights index dropped by 13.21% in 2023.

The average for 2022 based on 78 countries was 449.005 index points. The highest value was in Singapore: 561.433 index points and the lowest value was in Cambodia: 347.104 index points. The indicator is available from 2006 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

20,80 (index) in 2022. The FSI focuses on the indicators of risk and is based on thousands of articles and reports that are processed by our CAST Software from electronically available sources. Measures of fragility, like Demographic Pressures, Refugees and IDPs and etc., have been scaled on 0 to 10 where 10 is highest fragility and 0 no fragility.

Colombia obtained the 66th position out of a total of 132 countries in the 2023 Global Innovation Index. This represents a slight decrease in comparison to the previous year's position. In the mentioned period, Colombia's position in the ranking was at its highest in 2013, when it ranked 60th and at its lowest in 2011 when it got the 71st place. The South American country had an overall score of 29.4 in the Global Innovation Index (out of a maximum of 100) in 2022.

The SCImago Institutions Rankings (SIR) is a classification of academic and research-related institutions ranked by a composite indicator that combines three different sets of indicators based on research performance, innovation outputs and societal impact measured by their web visibility. It provides a friendly interface that allows the visualization of any customized ranking from the combination of these three sets of indicators. Additionally, it is possible to compare the trends for individual indicators of up to six institutions. For each large sector it is also possible to obtain distribution charts of the different indicators. For comparative purposes, the value of the composite indicator has been set on a scale of 0 to 100. However the line graphs and bar graphs always represent ranks (lower is better, so the highest values are the worst).

Index of economic freedom of Germany went down by 2.17% from 73.70 score in 2023 to 72.10 score in 2024. Since the 4.97% climb in 2022, index of economic freedom dropped by 5.26% in 2024. Economic freedom is the fundamental right of every human to control his or her own labor and property. In an economically free society, individuals are free to work, produce, consume, and invest in any way they please, with that freedom both protected by the state and unconstrained by the state. In economically free societies, governments allow labor, capital and goods to move freely, and refrain from coercion or constraint of liberty beyond the extent necessary to protect and maintain liberty itself. 100 represents the maximum freedom.

The Doing Business project provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 190 economies. Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business, from 1–190. The rankings are determined by sorting the aggregate scores (formerly called distance to frontier) on 10 topics, each consisting of several indicators, giving equal weight to each topic. More details: http://www.doingbusiness.org.

NOTE: Doing Business has been discontinued as of 9/16/2021. Click here for more information.

Index of economic freedom of China grew by 0.41% from 48.3 score in 2023 to 48.5 score in 2024. Since the 17.81% drop in 2022, index of economic freedom climb by 1.04% in 2024. Economic freedom is the fundamental right of every human to control his or her own labor and property. In an economically free society, individuals are free to work, produce, consume, and invest in any way they please, with that freedom both protected by the state and unconstrained by the state. In economically free societies, governments allow labor, capital and goods to move freely, and refrain from coercion or constraint of liberty beyond the extent necessary to protect and maintain liberty itself.

Brazil GOI: Weighted Rank data was reported at 62.000 NA in 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 66.000 NA for 2022. Brazil GOI: Weighted Rank data is updated yearly, averaging 72.000 NA from Dec 2016 (Median) to 2023, with 8 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 107.000 NA in 2017 and a record low of 62.000 NA in 2023. Brazil GOI: Weighted Rank data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Milken Institute. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Brazil – Table BR.Milken: Global Opportunity Index.

In 2022, Zimbabwe was ranked as the most miserable country in the world with a misery index score of 414.7. Venezuela ranked second with an index score of 330.8.

Quality of life around the world The misery index was created by the economist Arthur Okun in the 1960s. The index is calculated by adding the unemployment rate, the lending rate and the inflation rate minus percent change of GDP per capita.

Another famous tool used for the comparison of development of countries around the world is the Human Development Index, which takes into account such factors as life expectancy at birth, literacy rate, education level and gross national income (GNI) per capita.

Better economic conditions correlate with higher quality of life

Economic conditions affect the life expectancy, which is much higher in the wealthiest regions. With a life expectancy of 85 years, Japan led the ranking of countries with the highest life expectancy in 2020. On the other hand, Lesotho was the country with the lowest life expectancy, where men were expected to live 50 years as of 2022.

The Global Liveability Index ranks the quality of life in cities around the world, basing on political, social, economic and environmental aspects, such as personal safety and health, education and transport services and other public services. In 2022, Vienna was ranked as the city with the highest quality of life worldwide.

Colombia GOI: Total Rank data was reported at 70.000 NA in 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 76.000 NA for 2022. Colombia GOI: Total Rank data is updated yearly, averaging 68.500 NA from Dec 2016 (Median) to 2023, with 8 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 76.000 NA in 2022 and a record low of 56.000 NA in 2016. Colombia GOI: Total Rank data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Milken Institute. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Colombia – Table CO.Milken: Global Opportunity Index.

Hungary GOI: Weighted Rank data was reported at 50.000 NA in 2023. This stayed constant from the previous number of 50.000 NA for 2022. Hungary GOI: Weighted Rank data is updated yearly, averaging 48.500 NA from Dec 2016 (Median) to 2023, with 8 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 54.000 NA in 2019 and a record low of 36.000 NA in 2016. Hungary GOI: Weighted Rank data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Milken Institute. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Hungary – Table HU.Milken: Global Opportunity Index.

Uruguay GOI: Total Rank data was reported at 42.000 NA in 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 44.000 NA for 2022. Uruguay GOI: Total Rank data is updated yearly, averaging 46.000 NA from Dec 2016 (Median) to 2023, with 8 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 70.000 NA in 2018 and a record low of 28.000 NA in 2016. Uruguay GOI: Total Rank data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Milken Institute. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Uruguay – Table UY.Milken: Global Opportunity Index.