The 31 unhealthiest, unhappiest, poorest, and most unsafe countries in the world
Prosperity may mostly be used to talk about money, but the Legatum Institute thinks there is more to it than that
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Every year, the Legatum Institute, a London-based think tank, releases its annual Prosperity Index. The index ranks 142 countries in terms of their so-called prosperity.
Prosperity may mostly be used to talk about money, but the Legatum Institute thinks there is more to it than that.
It takes into account 89 different variables, ranging from indicators like a country's unemployment rate to asking citizens about how much political freedom they feel they have.
The 10 most prosperous countries in the world
Show all 10The data is then broken down into eight subindexes — economy, entrepreneurship and opportunity, governance, education, health, safety and security, personal freedom, and social capital. Each one is given a score and the prosperity of countries is calculated.
You can already take a look at the 26 countries that the Prosperity Index rated as the most prosperous, or in other words, the happiest, wealthiest, and most crime-free places on earth, but now it's time to look at the countries at the other end of the list.
Many of the countries that feature toward the bottom end of the index have been hit hard by wars and outbreaks of disease. They are generally lacking in strong economies, governments, and education systems.
We've taken the bottom 31 countries from the Legatum Institute's index and ranked them in reverse order, where number one represents the "least prosperous" country:
31. Cambodia — Cambodia has put the brutal dictatorship of the Khmer Rouge in its past, but it is still one of the world's least prosperous nations according to the Legatum Institute. It scored particularly poorly in the personal freedom, and social capital categories.
30. Zambia — Zambians enjoy pretty good levels of social capital, governance, and personal freedom, but only six countries in the whole Prosperity Index scored worse when it comes to health. This helped push the country down the rankings, and onto this list.
29. Niger — Ranked third from bottom on both the entrepreneurship and opportunity, and the education sub-indexes. Add to that the heavy presence of terrorist group, Boko Haram, in the country, and it's clear why Niger features on this list.
28. Uganda — Uganda is notorious for its poor human rights record, although this isn't reflected by its pretty high position (64th out of 142) in the social capital sub-index.
27. Cameroon — Another central African republic to feature near the bottom of the Prosperity Index, Cameroon's highest position in any of the eight sub-indexes is 83rd for its economy.
26. Tanzania — Tanzania may be home to beautiful scenery and wildlife, but bottom 20 scores in both health and education lead the Legatum Institute to rank the country as one of the world's least prosperous.
25. Ivory Coast — Ivorians have a rough time of it when it comes to social capital, ranking in the bottom 10 of the category. That, along with a poor education system, mean that despite top 40 levels of personal freedom, means that the country is the world's 25th least prosperous.
24. Mozambique — Healthcare in the country is amongst the ten worst anywhere in the world, according to the Legatum Institute. On top of this, citizens in fewer than 15 countries have worse education levels than Mozambicans.
23. Djibouti — Djibouti dropped one place in 2015's Prosperity Index from 119th to 120th, thanks largely to very low levels of entrepreneurship and opportunity, as well as a struggling economy, and education system.
22. Mauritania — The North African country has a pretty good score for social capital (it's 59th out of 142 countries) but is in the bottom 15 for the governance and personal freedom subindexes, meaning that it makes our list as one of the least prosperous countries on Earth.
21. Malawi — Despite having a governance-subindex score in the top 75, Malawi has fallen four places this year, going from 118th to 122nd. This is thanks in large part to having the fifth-worst economy in the whole Prosperity Index.
20. Iraq — As one of the areas occupied by ISIS, it is not hugely surprising to see Iraq rank in the bottom ten of the safety and security subindex. Despite ranking in the top 100 in two subindexes — economy and social capital — Iraq ranks 123rd out of the 142 countries surveyed.
19. Sierra Leone — Sierra Leone was badly hit by the Ebola crisis, and this is reflected in scoring fourth-lowest in the health subindex. Despite this, ranking 54th out of 142 in the social capital subindex helped the West African nation jump ten places to 124th overall in this year’s Prosperity Index.
18. Nigeria — Nigeria may have one of Africa’s most powerful economies, but it scored pretty poorly in all eight subindexes. It did particularly badly in the safety and security index, ranking as one of the five most unsafe countries surveyed.
17. Ethiopia — Ethiopia scored pretty well in some subindexes, but low levels of entrepreneurship and opportunity, and a bad score in the education subindex mean that the Legatum Institute ranks it as one of the 20 least prosperous countries on Earth. Overall, it is unmoved from last year’s rankings.
16. Republic of Congo — The Republic of Congo has a top 100 economy, but finishing 135th out of 142 in the health subindex has pushed it down five places to 127th overall in 2015’s Prosperity Index.
15. Zimbabwe — Subject to hyperinflation for much of the early 21st century, it’s not surprising that Zimbabwe scored very poorly on the economy subindex. A poor economy, coupled with a low rating in the governance subindex means that Zimbabwe has dropped five places in this year’s Prosperity Index.
14. Togo — Togo, in the Gulf of Guinea, ranked in the top 75 for the safety and security, and personal-freedom subindexes, but having the worst levels of social capital of any nations means it is one of the Legatum Institute’s least prosperous countries.
13. Pakistan — Despite having fairly good scores for both economy and entrepreneurship, Pakistan was ranked as one of the five most unsafe countries on Earth. It has dropped three places, from 127th to 130th this year.
12. Guinea — Only Liberia scored worse than Guinea in the economy sub-index in this year’s Prosperity Index. The West African nation also scored very poorly in the entrepreneurship and opportunity subindex.
11. Liberia — It was hit badly by 2014’s Ebola virus epidemic, and almost 5,000 people were killed in the country. As a result Liberia’s score in the health subindex was in the bottom ten. Furthermore, the country has officially the worst economy of any surveyed by the Legatum Institute.
10. Angola — Angola ranks in the bottom ten for six of the eight subindexes surveyed by the Legatum Institute. It has fallen by one place from 132nd in 2014 to 133rd this year.
9. Sudan — Sudan has fallen from 130th last year to 134th now, even though its score in the social-capital subindex is in the top 50. The country’s citizens are the second-least free of any in the Prosperity Index.
8. Yemen — According to the Prosperity Index, Yemenis enjoy the worst levels of personal freedom on Earth, as well as having one of the ten worst economies. Despite this fact, the country has climbed from 138th last year to 135th in 2015.
7. Syria — When the Prosperity Index first launched in 2009, Syria was ranked inside the top 90 countries, but the brutal civil war that has ripped through the country, along with the rise of ISIS have pushed it steadily down the rankings. Unsurprisingly, it is ranked as the third-most unsafe country of any surveyed by the Legatum Institute.
6. Democratic Republic of Congo — Citizens in the Democratic Republic of Congo is ranked as the most unsafe country in the whole Prosperity Index. However, high levels of social capital (65th out of 142 countries) mean that the country has climbed three places this year.
5. Burundi — Only three countries in the Prosperity Index scored lower in the economy subindex this year. This, along with very poor scores in the social capital and health indexes, means that Burundi ranked 138th out of 142 countries in the complete index.
4. Chad — Last year only the Central African Republic was less prosperous than Chad, but this year, thanks to having the 76th best economy of all countries surveyed, Chad has climbed two places. It still scored very close to the bottom in four subindexes.
3. Haiti — Haiti has never truly recovered from the earthquake that ravaged the country in 2010, and a dreadful health rating, along with poor governance and low levels of personal freedom mean that it falls five places to 140th out of 142 countries this year.
2. Afghanistan — Ravaged by war for decades, it is perhaps unsurprising that Afghanistan ranked as having the worst governance of all countries surveyed, and the second-worst safety and security. These factors, combined with poor scores across the board make it second-least prosperous of any country surveyed.
1. Central African Republic — As its name suggests, the country is located in the heart of Africa. Citizens reported relatively high levels of personal freedom, but the country finished last in three categories — entrepreneurship and opportunity, education, and health — meaning that the CAR is the Legatum Institute’s least prosperous country for the second year in a row.
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Read the original article on Business Insider UK. © 2015. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter.
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