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Ranked: The Top 30 Countries by Quality of Life
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Key Takeaways
- Numbeo’s Quality of Life Index measures overall living conditions in countries, combining data on costs, safety, healthcare, pollution, and more from user surveys.
- Switzerland remains one of the highest-rated countries, while others such as the Netherlands and Norway have climbed places.
- Canada has seen the largest decline in living standards, falling from 9th to 27th over the past decade.
The Numbeo Quality of Life Index aggregates survey data from people around the world to gain insight into how they perceive life in their country.
To see how these perceptions have changed over time, we’ve visualized the 30 countries with the best quality of life in 2015 and 2025. The comparison reveals a number of significant movements up and down the ranking, with Canada losing the most ground.
Data & Discussion
The data for this visualization comes from Numbeo, which compiles user-reported data on eight factors:
- Purchasing Power
- Pollution
- House Price to Income Ratio
- Cost of Living
- Safety
- Health Care
- Traffic Commute Time
- Climate
Each country’s quality of life score is calculated based on these factors, with higher scores representing better overall conditions.
| Rank (2015) |
Country | Quality of Life Index (2015) |
Rank (2025) |
Country | Quality of Life Index (2025) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Switzerland | 222.9 | 1 | Luxembourg | 218.2 |
| 2 | Germany | 195.9 | 2 | Netherlands | 216.5 |
| 3 | Sweden | 193.9 | 3 | Denmark | 215.1 |
| 4 | U.S. | 192.5 | 4 | Oman | 215.1 |
| 5 | Finland | 190.2 | 5 | Switzerland | 210.9 |
| 6 | Denmark | 190.2 | 6 | Finland | 208.3 |
| 7 | Austria | 182.6 | 7 | Norway | 199.2 |
| 8 | Australia | 180.8 | 8 | Iceland | 198.0 |
| 9 | Canada | 177.6 | 9 | Austria | 197.7 |
| 10 | New Zealand | 175.5 | 10 | Germany | 195.2 |
| 11 | Norway | 175.1 | 11 | Australia | 195.1 |
| 12 | Saudi Arabia | 169.4 | 12 | New Zealand | 194.7 |
| 13 | Japan | 168.3 | 13 | Sweden | 192.2 |
| 14 | Netherlands | 166.8 | 14 | U.S. | 192.1 |
| 15 | Turkmenistan | 157.1 | 15 | Estonia | 189.8 |
| 16 | UK | 156.9 | 16 | Qatar | 189.4 |
| 17 | Cyprus | 154.9 | 17 | Japan | 188.8 |
| 18 | UAE | 153.7 | 18 | Spain | 187.2 |
| 19 | Ireland | 148.9 | 19 | Slovenia | 182.4 |
| 20 | Qatar | 144.9 | 20 | Croatia | 181.7 |
| 21 | Estonia | 144.6 | 21 | Lithuania | 178.8 |
| 22 | France | 139.3 | 22 | UK | 177.2 |
| 23 | Belgium | 136 | 23 | Czech Republic | 176.3 |
| 24 | Spain | 134.9 | 24 | UAE | 174.2 |
| 25 | Slovenia | 134.5 | 25 | Saudi Arabia | 173.7 |
| 26 | Portugal | 129.2 | 26 | Belgium | 173.7 |
| 27 | Czech Republic | 127.5 | 27 | Canada | 170.5 |
| 28 | Puerto Rico | 125.7 | 28 | Ireland | 169.6 |
| 29 | Kuwait | 123.4 | 29 | France | 169.5 |
| 30 | Israel | 120.4 | 30 | Israel | 169.5 |
Europe Boasts High Quality of Life
European countries topped the ranking in both 2015 and 2025, perhaps a reflection of the region’s strong social welfare systems, safety, and infrastructure. The Netherlands stands out, climbing 12 places since 2015.
Not all European countries have maintained their ranking, though, with Sweden falling 10 places (3rd to 13th).
Sweden, once regarded as one of Europe’s safest countries, has seen an alarming rise in organized-crime networks. It’s estimated that 62,000 individuals are connected to these networks, primarily dealing in drugs, human smuggling, and money laundering.
Canada’s Declining Living Standards
Canada has fallen the most spots over the time period, from 9th to 27th.
Housing affordability is one of the most pressing issues in the country, as real house prices rise much faster than incomes. According to a 2024 survey by Statistics Canada, 45% of Canadians are “very concerned” about their ability to afford housing.
Another challenge is healthcare, where the median wait time between a referral from a doctor (general practitioner) and the receipt of treatment is 30 weeks. According to the Fraser Institute, this is 222% longer than the 9.3 week timeline observed in 1993.
Learn More on the Voronoi App
If you enjoyed today’s post, check out Global Happiness by Country in 2025 on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.