Ireland now sits in the ‘very high’ category.
Ireland ranks second in the world when it comes to quality of life, according to the United Nations annual ranking of 189 countries.
The Human Development Index report measures countries according to life expectancy, education and income.
Ireland scored .955 on the index, second only to Norway who has a HDI value of .957.
Which leaves Ireland ahead of other nations such as Germany (6), Sweden (7), Australia (8), and the UK (13).
It marks a stark improvement from when the report was first published in 1990, when Ireland was outranked by Spain, Belgium, Italy, New Zealand, Germany, Finland, the UK, Denmark, France, Australia, Norway, Canada, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden and Japan
Pedro Conceição, the lead author of the report, said Ireland’s high ranking was due above all to advances in education.
“The Irish economy has almost doubled since 1990, but the biggest driver was actually education. That was the indicator that made relatively more progress since 1990,” Mr Conceição said.
Average life expectancy at birth was 74.8 in Ireland in 1990 and has risen to 82.3, while average years of schooling were 9.7 and are now 12.7.
You can learn more about the report, here.
