The world's 37 richest, healthiest, happiest, and most prosperous nations

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• The Legatum Institute's annual Prosperity Index was released on Wednesday.
• The index looks at more than 100 different variables to determine the most "prosperous" country on the planet.
• Norway has held the top spot for eight of the last nine years, only dethroned once by New Zealand in 2016, but could the Nordic nation hold on to top spot in 2018?

Think-tank the Legatum Institute on Wednesday released its 12th annual global Prosperity Index, a huge survey that ranks the majority of the world's countries by their "prosperity" - a measure encompassing everything from the strength of their economies, all the way to their natural environment.

Legatum looks at more than 100 different variables, including traditional indicators like per-capita gross domestic product and the number of people in full-time work. It also analyzes more esoteric data such as the number of secure internet servers a country has, and how well-rested people feel on a day-to-day basis.

The variables are then split into nine subindexes: economic quality, business environment, governance, personal freedom, social capital, safety and security, education, health, and natural environment.

The index looked at the 149 countries in the world that have the most available data.

Norway has held the top spot for eight of the last nine years, dethroned only once by New Zealand in 2016, but could the Nordic nation hold on to top spot in 2018?

Check out the ranking below.