A recent ranking of the countries with the best quality of life by dropped and Canada's score has certainly seen some better days.
Numbeo, a Serbian-based crowd-sourced online database that compiles information on perceived consumer prices, real estate prices, and metrics related to the quality of life, released its annual ranking and Canada placed 25th overall.
Numbeo employs a dual data collection approach, combining user-generated input and manually gathered information from reputable sources with a threefold higher weighting for the latter, enhancing data reliability. The process includes automatic and semi-automatic filters, utilizing over 30 algorithms to minimize noise, and bias, and to ensure accuracy.
While a top 30 score may seem like an accomplishment, Canada’s placement has fallen in the past few years. When compared to the 2022 score, Canada dropped a total of two spots. In fact, in 2015 Canada placed in the top 10, ranking ninth overall with a quality of life score of 177.6.
In 2023, Canada stands in 25th with an overall score of 162.3, which is a 15-point decrease over the span of eight years.
The Netherlands topped the ranking, placing first with a quality of life index of 196.7. Denmark followed suit, placing second with an index score of 194.7.
Switzerland, Luxembourg and Finland all made up the remainder of the top five. In fact, a total of 13 European countries made the top 20, with Nordic regions placing the highest.
Wondering which other countries made the cut? Here's the complete top 10 of the countries with the best quality of life in 2023, per Numbeo:
- Netherlands
- Denmark
- Switzerland
- Luxembourg
- Finland
- Iceland
- Austria
- Oman
- Australia
- Norway
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.
The World Happiness Report 2022.