Norway in first place, Denmark in second and Sweden is advancing to third place on the annual Legatum Prosperity Index. As a matter of fact, this index shows Scandinavia is best when it comes to prosperity: Norway is in first place, Denmark in second and Sweden in third. Legatum uses eight factors to measure countries: economy, entrepreneurship and opportunity, governance, education, health, safety and security, personal freedom, and social capital.
The current index includes 142 countries. Sweden ranked fifth last year but is advancing, thanks to better rankings in economy and personal freedom. What’s surprising is that the U.S., for the first time in the five years the index has been around, is not to be found among the top ten countries—it's in 12th place. The reasons are recent problems with the national economy, the housing bubble, unemployment.

The other top countries in the index are:
4. Australia
5. New Zeeland
6. Canada
7. Finland
8. The Netherlands
9. Switzerland
10. Ireland.

For more information: www.prosperity.com