Denmark comes in first in Quality of Life Index 2020

The Nordic country has been a consistent frontrunner in this and similar indices

The results of the 2020 edition of the Standard of Living survey performed by the Social Progress Imperative are in and it is Denmark that comes out on top after years of placing in the top 10. Thanks to its progress in a number of fields and its excellent governance, the Nordic country has finally managed to secure the top spot for itself while also improving the lives of its citizens on the way.

The Quality of Life index and what goes in it

If you’re asking yourself how quality of life is measured in the survey, the answer is rather straightforward. The Quality of Life index, as assembled by the Social Progress Initiative, takes into account a number of factors, including the health, comfort and the happiness of a specific group.

By adhering to that definition, the Initiative uses the Social Progress Index in order to rank countries by their respective quality of life. The main factors that contribute to the Index are the capacity to provide for basic human needs like healthcare, sanitation and shelter, the foundations of wellbeing – such as life expectancy and access to education and technology, and finally opportunity – namely the opportunity for one to express themselves, by ensuring their basic human rights, their freedom of choice and a society’s general tolerance.

The Index aims to prove that it is not only GDP that matters when it comes to a society’s wellbeing – rather it’s a complicated mix of many factors, often transcending the material. That doesn’t mean that economic wellbeing is not important, however – quite the opposite, as it is a large contributing factor to achieving good results in the three aforementioned main pillars.

In the case of Denmark, the country manages to secure a Quality of Life Index of 196.47 – the highest for 2020. It scores incredibly well in terms of matching a society’s Basic Human Needs, especially in the fields of medical care and sanitation.