Living in Australia offers second best quality of life says UN report

October 06 2009 by Bryan Palmer

The new UN Development Programme report ranking the quality of life in the world’s countries has named Australia as the second best place to live in the world, behind only Norway.

The Human Development Report ranks countries in terms of factors including life expectancy, education and wealth. These factors affect the quality of life experienced among the people living in Australia, and the country's strong performance in this index is likely to encourage even more people to move to Australia.

Over the past year, the average life expectancy in Australia has increased by three months and the average income rose by 4 per cent. This is despite the global recession and illustrates the fact that Australia has survived the economic downturn well.

The report suggests that countries that offer a high quality of life attract more migrants, with thousands of people moving to Australia each year on work visas and working holiday visas. It states, ''most migration, internal and international, reap gains in the form of higher incomes, better access to education and health, and improved prospects for their children.''

People living in the US enjoy the 13th best quality of life out of 182 countries ranked, while Canadian visas are likely to remain popular as Canada was ranked in fourth place.

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