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Deloitte: Czech Republic 24th in quality of life, moving two places up and ahead of the USA
Prague, 18 September 2019 – With 24th place in the Social Progress Index 2019, the Czech Republic has moved two places up year-on-year. The annual ranking is prepared by the non-profit organisation Social Progress Imperative and Deloitte. It is based on data on social and economic development and the environment.
This year’s index compares 149 countries (three more than last year), covering 98% of the world’s population. Norway remains the highest-scoring country, followed by Denmark, which has moved two places up, and Switzerland, which placed third as in the previous year. The ranking is closed by a trio of African countries including Chad, Central African Republic and South Sudan.
Although the Czech Republic has moved two places up, its number of points is slightly lower. With 84.36 points obtained out of 100 in the 2019 index (as opposed to 84.66 points last year), the Czech Republic ranks behind Korea and ahead of Estonia, which has overtaken the United States. Out of the “new” EU countries, the Czech Republic is second following Slovenia, which ended 21st (85.60 points). The Czech Republic improved predominantly from an economic perspective. GDP per capita with regard to purchasing power parity saw a year-on-year increase of USD 2,075 to USD 33,414.
“Even the richest countries have their weaknesses to be addressed. Globally, the decrease in the indicators of personal rights, which may be seen even in the cradle of democracy such as the USA, is alarming. A comparison of the Visegrád Four shows that in terms of personal rights, the Czech Republic is far ahead of Slovakia, Poland and Hungary,” Josef Kotrba, Chairman of Deloitte, commented on the results of the ranking.
In the long term, the Czech Republic has recorded very good results in basic human needs. The nutrition and basic medical care indicator moved one place up but, contrarily, the indicator of shelter slightly decreased. Improvement has been seen in basic human rights and personal freedom. The Czech Republic recorded a sharp increase in access to advanced education. On the other hand, environmental quality and access to information deteriorated.
If there were 100 people living on the Earth…
… 89 would have access to electricity, 73 to basic sanitation facilities, 63 to piped water, 48 to the internet, 32 would live in a place with a high level of acceptance of LGBT and 11 people would suffer from undernourishment.
If the entire world were a single country, it would place between China (89th) and Saudi Arabia (90th) in the ranking. Since 2014, the quality of life has improved globally by 2.31 points on average to 64.47 points. In a year-on-year comparison, the world has obtained 1.01 points more. From a global perspective, the most significant improvements were achieved in the area of shelter, level of drinking water and sanitation, access to information and access to advanced education.
Complete results of the Social Progress Index 2019 are available here.
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