Reuters Civil war is a common trait of the low ranking countries.
Africa and the Middle East dominate the "Social Progress Index" (SPI), suggesting that even though a high GDP is not the only component of a high standard of living, a country still needs money to take care of basic human needs.
Many entries at the bottom of the SPI are nations ravaged by civil war and disease - particularly Ebola - but what stands out is how many countries are resource-rich but with so few of their citizens benefiting from this.
The SPI collates the scores of three main indexes:
- Basic Human Needs, which includes medical care, sanitation, and shelter.
- Foundations of Wellbeing, which covers education, access to technology, and life expectancy.
- Opportunity, which looks at personal rights, freedom of choice, and general tolerance.
The index then adds the three different factors together, before giving each nation a score out of 100. You can see the countries with the lowest quality of life below: