If your appendix bursts, sure, you hope the local hospital has a spare bed for you…and if you’re planning a weekend getaway, you appreciate a nearby airport. But are those things real measures of your life experience?
Indeed, should you choose your place of residence based on tax rates, the cost of living, or the strength of the local economy?
We’d say no and we base that on nearly 30 years of data collecting and number crunching. That’s how long International Living has been producing its annual Quality of Life survey.
| How the numbers are crunched |
| To rate and rank the 192 countries considered in this year’s Quality of Life Index , we took into account:Cost of Living (15% of the final ranking). This is a guide to how much it will cost you to live in a style comparable to—or better than—the standard of living you’re likely enjoying in the U.S. Our primary source in this category is the U.S. State Department’s Index of Overseas Living Costs, used to compute cost-of-living allowances for a Western-style of living in various countries. We also consider each country’s income tax rates.Culture and Leisure(10%). To calculate this score, we look at literacy rate, newspaper circulation per 1,000 people, primary and secondary school enrollment ratios, number of people per museum, and a subjective rating of the variety of cultural and recreational offerings.Economy (15%). We consider interest rates, GDP, GDP growth rate, GDP per capita, the inflation rate, and GNP per capita to determine each country’s Economy score.Environment (10%). To figure a country’s score in this category, we look at population density per square kilometer, population growth rate, greenhouse emissions per capita, and the percentage of total land that is protected .Freedom (10%). Freedom House’s 2007 survey is the main source for these scores, with an emphasis on a citizen’s political rights and civil liberties.Health (10%). In this category, we look at calorie consumption as a percentage of daily requirements, the number of people per doctor, the number of hospital beds per 1,000 people, the percentage of the population with access to safe water, the infant mortality rate, life expectancy, and public health expenditure as a percentage of a country’s GDP.Infrastructure (10% ). To calculate a country’s Infrastructure score, we look at the length of railways, paved highways, and navigable waterways in each country, and equated these things to each country’s population and size. We also consider the number of airports, motor vehicles , telephones, Internet service providers, and cell phones per capita.
Safety and Risk (10%). For this category, we use the U.S. Department of State’s hardship Differentials and danger allowances, which are based on extraordinarily difficult, notably unhealthy, or dangerous living conditions. Climate (10%). When deciding on a score for each country’s climate, we look at its average annual rainfall and average temperature…and consider its risk for natural disasters. |
You’ll notice as you review this year’s Index that the places International Living normally recommends you think about living or retiring fall nowhere near the top in the final rankings. Ecuador’s economy is a basket case and has been for as long as anyone can remember. Nicaragua’s tax rates aren’t particularly appealing for the foreign resident. Uruguay has zero miles of usable railway track. And, in the interior of Argentina, you could travel a long way in search of a hospital bed.
On the other hand, Switzerland, for example, boasts 40 miles of railway track per 10,000 people over which the trains run quick and on time. Its GDP per capita is $34,000. And its female citizens live to the ripe age of 83 years.
Should you contact your local Swiss Embassy to see if you might qualify for residency? We don’t know, but realize, before you do, that most of these details, when considered individually and out of context, are nearly meaningless.
So which country wins this year’s Index? France and it takes this honor for the third year in a row. According to IL’s 2008 Quality of Life Index, France is the best place in the world to live.
France has much to offer…the world’s best medical care. ..fast trains and its Eurostar service across the Channel. Paris blooms with too-many-to-count museums, cafés, galleries, antiques shops, restaurants, boutiques, jazz clubs, theaters, bakeries, and cheese shops, as well as her multitude of parks and gardens, some growing and tended for hundreds of years. Three capital city airports provide easy and cheap air access to the rest of Europe and the world beyond. And what’s not to like about the country’s four seasons, none too severe?
On the other hand, France can be a very frustrating place to live and do business. Good luck opening a bank account without a letter of reference and bonne chance getting local cell phone service (the secret is to bring a local utility bill, preferably an electric bill). To apply for a visa or even to rent an apartment (legally), you’ll have to prepare an inch-thick dossier, notarized, sealed, stamped, witnessed…
All those things are inconvenient and frustrating. But, just as a healthy gross domestic product and a lot of cell phones in circulation don’t necessarily translate to a good life, neither do an abundance of administrative red tape and restrictive systems for doing business necessarily mean a bad one.
What, then, does make for a good quality of life? You’ll have to answer the question for yourself, and, when you do, here’s what we suggest: Place a premium on the things that can’t be plugged into a spreadsheet. A country (or a city or a region) may make great sense on paper but appeal to you not at all when you visit. And vice versa.
What is it then that makes France, and particularly Paris, so special to so many people? Simply put, it’s beautiful. No city anywhere is as pretty as Paris. At all times of year, any time of day, in any weather, central Paris is lovely. Walk along its river, wander the twisting cobblestoned rues of its Latin Quarter, while away an afternoon watching the city pass you by from a café perch…and you’ll see what we mean.
And no one can deny the cultural offerings of Paris. It’s a museum city, and its displays, in all directions, are world-class. Those who live here say that the longer they’re here, the less certain they are that they know the place. Paris is a tease. Like a lover savvy enough never to reveal too much too quickly, they say, Paris shows you a little leg, then covers up coquettishly, leaving you smiling and anticipating the next encounter. You may think you know Paris, but we promise you, there’s more to discover.
Editor’s note:
We asked our IL editors from around the world to tell us what quality of life means to them and how they achieved their ideals in the part of the world they have chosen to reside. Read on for their stories.
Dan Prescher and Suzan Haskins in Merida, Mexico
Six years ago, we decided we weren’t going to take it any more and left the wind, rain, snow, and sleet of Midwestern winters behind. We’ve never regretted doing that, despite the fact that making a life in a foreign world has its own set of hurdles.
Here in Merida, the streets are clean. The stores are well stocked. Cafés and restaurants abound. At night in the city parks, bands play free concerts under the stars. Dinner can be had at a local café for $5. It’s safe to walk home after midnight.
A visit to the doctor’s office costs $30, and the doctor takes medical histories himself. The doctor provides a personal phone number and says to call immediately with any questions or concerns…and means it.
Just about everything necessary for a quiet, happy life is within walking distance or a $2 taxi ride away, and there are taxis on every corner, all the time.
This may sound like life in a typical U.S. town in the 1950s, but this is our home in the old central district of Merida, capital city of Yucatan state in eastern Mexico.
Merida is a prosperous middle-class Mexican city that works. With a population of about 800,000, it’s large enough to have everything I need, and small enough to be completely manageable.
Merida has an international airport with regular direct flights to Houston, Miami, and Atlanta. High-speed Internet, satellite and cable television, first-run movies, and modern shopping malls exist here alongside ancient churches, hand-pushed ice cream carts, historic haciendas, and indigenous craft markets. Many of the people on the streets speak Mayan as their first language.
The summers can be brutally hot…well into the 100s for weeks at a time during July and August. But just 40 minutes north of town on a modern highway are some of the best beaches anywhere along Mexico’s gulf coast. Summer temperatures at the beach average 20˚ F cooler than in the city. Restaurants there bring cold beer and freshly grilled fish right out to your table under a palapa in the sand. A long summer afternoon by the sea with a cool breeze, a lunch of the day’s catch, and a few drinks runs about $15…for two. The other nine months of the year, a ceiling fan is the only climate control needed in the city.
Property around Merida is still affordable compared to U.S. prices, and taking into consideration the low taxes and other day to day costs, we can live here for about half what we lived on in the U.S.
Mexico has problems, and poverty is foremost among them. Mexico’s wealth, though, is its hard working and generous people. Whenever we’re away, we can’t wait to get back home to Mexico.
| Our sources |
| We used the following sources to compile the data for our 2008 Quality of Life Index : UNESCO Statistical Yearbook; Freedom in the World: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties; United States Department of Commerce; U.S. State Department; The United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention; The Freedom House Survey; Statistical Abstract of the United States; The World Factbook; The World Almanac and Book of Facts; The World Bank Atlas; Gale Country and World Rankings Reporter; U.S. Department of State Indexes of Living Costs Abroad, Quarters Allowances, and Hardship Differentials; The World Health Organization; UN Statistical Yearbook; The Economist World in Figures. We also used popular newspapers and magazines, such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, National Geographic, Time, and The Economist.And, of course, we consulted letters from International Living subscribers and remembered the experiences of our contributing editors and Local Offices around the world. |
Leigh Fergus in Paris, France
I’m a city slicker and gourmet, so for me the good life must have fine food and wine at reasonable prices, public transport that works well, plenty of culture, and a city landscape of beauty. My corner of Paris, in the northeastern 20th arrondissement, has all this. And more.
On a typical day, I gaze at the Eiffel Tower from my window before going down to buy a newspaper. Everyone in the building says hello on the stairs—Paris is not the cold city you hear about. I read the funnies at a local café and enjoy flaking my warm croissant into a steaming espresso or hot chocolate. This neighborhood has one of the best boulangeries I’ve found, baking fresh organic loaves, outstanding baguettes, and an irresistible pear-and-chocolate dessert doused in liqueur. I don’t resist. I do all my shopping—from specialist stores, markets or supermarkets—within five minutes’ walk of my home.
When I’m done writing for the morning, lunch could be half a fresh-roast chicken ($5) to eat at home with salad, or a two-course lunch in a workers’ café for $10. If I’m flush, I’ll go with a friend to a restaurant where the manager serves champagne from her grandmother’s estate.
I’m spoiled for things to do: this corner of Paris alone has more than a dozen theaters, as well as a cinema screening the latest movies, and plenty of bars with live music. And I’m within striking distance of a great science museum and music school. The landscaped greenery of the Buttes-Chaumont park is close by, where lovers kiss, newly-weds pose for their photos, and kids can play ball. This district also has the highest concentration of artists’ studios in Europe, and there are always open days.
When I’m done with the bustle of the main avenues, I dodge into a side street to indulge in people-watching from a café terrace over tea and macaroons or a glass of Pouilly-Fumé. If I have no evening class to go to (subjects on offer ranging from IT to yoga, and many are in English), I can hop on a bus or Metro for more bookstores, museums, and exhibitions or I can stroll the banks of the Seine in less than 15 minutes. The sunset on Paris’ skyline from the Pont Neuf is one of the most beautiful sights in the world—and it’s mine whenever I want.
Jessica Ramesch in Panama City, Panama
One day in the Bahamas, I found myself thinking: “Stay here or go home?” I’d been working for a cruise line based out of Miami. I knew I’d move back home to Panama some day. I wanted to live a better-quality, slower-paced life.
I’m accustomed to First-World convenience and infrastructure. Luckily, I moved back at a time when Panama could offer all this. I love my neighborhood and my four-bedroom apartment which costs me $550 a month in rent.
The light of my life, Yariela, comes over Mondays. She does the laundry, cooks, cleans…and anything else I need. I pay her $15 per visit…she works from around 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., leaving everything fresh and clean.
On the weekend I often go to Santa Clara with friends. This beach is close to the city and is clean, and the waters are turquoise. We each spend about $95 for the weekend, including gas, rental house with pool, and food and drinks—local beer, rum, wine, cheese, meat, and vegetables for the BBQ, salads, and more.
I’m living just the way I wanted—easy, happy, uncomplicated.
| Our Western bias Our sources, staff, and contributing editors are all influenced by a Western bias. We have definite, preconceived ideas about what constitutes a high or low standard of living, what constitutes culture and entertainment, and what climate is the most enjoyable. Please also remember that statistics obtained from official government sources are not always current, accurate, or re liable. And some statistics are highly subjective. What someone else might consider a museum, you and I might think of as a garden shed. Other statistics may be estimated, outdated, or incorrect for any number of reasons . Since the statistics we gathered don’t always reflect our own experiences, we sometimes interject a subjective factor to make the numbers better reflect reality. This is most often necessary in the “Leisure and Culture” category. |
Punta del Este, Uruguay
Enhanced quality of life at a reasonable cost: that’s why most people come to Punta del Este. This is not the cheapest place to retire, nor is it the most exotic or adventurous. But this small part of an otherwise tiny country offers the most comfortable and relaxed lifestyle you’ll find at any price.
From our home in a quiet, wooded residential neighborhood we enjoy a mild climate, clean air, and endless miles of beautiful beaches that we have mostly to ourselves. In the nearby town of Punta del Este—South America’s premier resort—we find top-notch shows from around the world, the country’s best selection of fine restaurants, and high-end international outlets, and art galleries where we can enjoy hours of window shopping.
And for all this natural beauty, we don’t “pay the price” with hurricanes, tsunamis, volcanoes, earthquakes, or tornados. Nor will you find panhandlers or people sleeping in doorways. The well-organized municipality keeps the streets free of litter and cleans the beaches daily.
Within a few hours’ drive we explore regions of productive wineries, colonial cities, and vast stretches of rolling ranchlands, accessible on fast, well-maintained highways. Uruguay boasts pure, drinkable water throughout the country, fast and reliable Internet service, and an infrastructure that’s the pride of the region. Yet we still have the benefit of reasonable utility rates and low taxes.
You won’t find a large number of North American expats here in Punta del Este, and there is little North American influence to interfere with the mostly-Italian customs and traditions. Few people speak English outside the tourist areas; something that, for us, adds to the charm of being here.
Since moving to Punta del Este a year ago we enjoy long walks among the dunes and on the beaches, a yard with no fence or barbed wire, a reasonable cost of living and properties, and a relaxed, patient, and unhurried culture where aggression and violence are rare. Genteel conduct and courteous behavior are the norm.
True, Punta del Este is not the most exotic or least expensive place to live in Latin America; but all in all, it’s an excellent value for a remarkable quality of life.
Accompanying this article are the final scores for all 192 countries considered in our survey. To see the complete scores for every country in every category, go to: www.qualityoflife2008.com.
by the editors of International Living