Unsurprisingly, the index is topped by a lot of Scandinavia...
In a report published on the
Social Progress Index in 2017, we see how each country measures up in terms of moving forward with individual social issues.
Everything from homicide rates to to traffic accidents, to "Tolerance and Inclusion", as well as in health and wellness, nutrition and basic medical care and environmental quality, and even the country's GDP is taken into account to give an overall score out of 100, which measures just how socially progress each nation is.
And good news Ireland, because we came in 11th!
If that doesn't sound super great, remember that this is out of the 128 countries ranked, and that those pesky Scandinavians have been pretty much living the most socially progressive lives imaginable for a while now.
But we're catching up! The top 20 is as follows:
1. Denmark 90.57
2. Finland 90.53
3. Iceland 90.27
3. Norway 90.27
5. Switzerland 90.10
6. Canada 89.84
7. Netherlands 89.82
8. Sweden 89.66
9. Australia 89.30
9. New Zealand 89.30
11. Ireland 88.91
12. United Kingdom 88.73
13. Germany 88.50
14. Austria 87.98
15. Belgium 87.15
16. Spain 86.96
17. Japan 86.44
18. United States 86.43
19. France 85.92
20. Portugal 85.44
In further good news, the average global score has increased. Social progress on a worldwide scale has gone up from 63.19 in 2014 to 64.85 in 2017, with 113 of the 128 countries registered as having moved their scores in a positive direction in that time period.
So despite everything, science has just proved that the world is literally becoming a better place.
