A list of country rankings names Singapore the healthiest country in the world. The ranking selection utilised data by the United Nations, the World Bank and the World Health Organisation.
Each country that has a population of at least 1 million was given a health score and a health risk rating by Bloomberg rankings. The country's rank in the list was calculated by subtracting the latter from the former.
Health scores for each country were based on various factors, which include life expectancy from the time of birth and the causes of death. The health risks for these countries, on the other hand, considered factors that may negatively impact health. These include the number of young people who smoke, the number of reported cases of raised cholesterol and the number of immunisations.
Based on these calculations, Singapore received an overall score of 89.45 per cent and winning rank number one on the list. Italy came out as the second healthiest country in the world with a rating of 89.07 per cent. The third healthiest country is calculated to be Australia with a rating of 88.33 percent. Ireland is ranked as 19 while the UK ranked as 21.
The World Economic Forum qualifies that the term healthy may be subjective and is then open to interpretation. Where the term healthy should be defined as the quality of life rather than by the rate of life expectancy, these rankings may change to include countries with lower income that are reported to have higher life satisfaction levels.
"The data is a useful guide for policy makers, who might look at the practices of higher-scoring countries to improve their own countries' health scores", adds the World Economic Forum.
Nevertheless, following a life expectancy criteria, Swaziland ranked as the least healthiest country in the world with an overall rating of 0.26 percent. The bottom 10 also included Lesotho, Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad and Mozambique.
The top 10 healthiest countries:
1. Singapore
2. Italy
3. Australia
4. Switzerland
5. Japan
6. Israel
7. Spain
8. Netherlands
9. Sweden
10. Germany
The 10 least healthy countries:
1. Swaziland
2. Lesotho
3. Democratic Republic of Congo
4. Chad
5. Mozambique
6. Burundi
7. Malawi
8. Angola
9. Uganda
10. Cameroon
See Also:
- Global Warming: Top 5 Countries Most Responsible for Global Warming, COP21 Paris Climate Conference This November
- Highest Work-Life Balance: The 5 Best Countries Based on OECD 2015 Better Life Index
- Unhappy Dubai Residents May have a Caller: The Police!
