Georgia is in 54th place on index of human well-being

(Interpressnews.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–An index that measures how well countries provide for basic human needs lists Georgia in 54th place, far behind most European countries.

The most socially progressed country among 133 countries surveyed is Finland, according to the 2016 Social Progress Index. It is followed by Canada, Denmark, Australia and Switzerland.

The ranking list is published by Social Progress Imperative, a U.S.-based nonprofit created in 2012. Rather than just measuring the GDP of each country, it attempts to measure to what degree each country is able to provide for the basic needs of its population.

The data is collected from many publicly available sources including the United Nations’ Human Development Report, the World Health Organization, Pew and Gallup, and broken down by looking at 54 indicators that cover social and environmental factors, personal freedom, safety, inclusion and equality.

The authors of the report write that when it comes to basic human needs, Georgia performed best within nutrition and basic medical care, while it has most potential for improvement in the shelter component. In the foundations of wellbeing dimension, Georgia scores highest on access to basic knowledge but lags on the environmental quality component. In the opportunity dimension, Georgia is strongest on personal rights and has the most room for improvement on tolerance and inclusion.

Although low compared to Europe, Georgia is higher up on the list than its neighbours: Turkey is in 58th place, Armenia 67th, Russia 75th and Azerbaijan 77th place. Georgia also scores better than some other countries along the European Union’s eastern borders. Ukraine took the 63rd place, Belarus the 66th place, and Moldova the 72nd place.