Asia Briefing: Steady gains for Asian prosperity

The 2013 Legatum Institute Prosperity Index, which ranks 142 countries based on their prosperity and aims to reflect overall wealth, health, and happiness, has some interesting findings for Asia.

For the fifth year in a row, Norway placed first, with Switzerland in second place, Canada in third, Sweden in fourth, and New Zealand rounding out the top five.

The report provides an overview of what makes a country truly prosperous, comparing a wide range of data, from traditional measures of material wealth to capturing citizens’ sense of wellbeing.

In Asia-Pacific, Singapore and Hong Kong are in 18th and 19th places. For Hong Kong, this represents a rise in status of three places in terms of overall prosperity, while it ranked number one in the world in terms of safety and security.

China has risen steadily since 2009, up 10 places to 51st place.

The country improved by 27 places on the economy sub-index, rising to seventh, as a result of an increase in capital per worker and a fall in inflation. It improved 13 places on the social capital sub- index, rising to 25th.

“This is the result of more people helping strangers,” the report said.

In China, 50.9 per cent believe business or government corruption is widespread, while 40.4 per cent think it is a good time to find a job.

Ireland dropped two places to 12th, in terms of overall prosperity, while the economy component fell 18 places to 33rd place.