Switzerland: Best Place to be Born

According to a list of nations with the best quality of life, Switzerland is the best place to be born in 2013.

According to a list of nations with the best quality of life, Switzerland is the best place to be born in 2013. India occupies a lowly 66th spot while Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh are at numbers 63, 75 and 77.

People born in Switzerland will tend to be the happiest and have the best quality of life in terms of wealth, health and trust in public institutions, the Daily Mail cited the study by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a sister company of The Economist, as saying.

Survey Reveals Pakistan Not a Good Place to be Born in 2013
After Pakistan landed among the bottom five countries, ranking 75 among 80 countries, a recent survey revealed that it is not a good place to be born in 2013.

Nigeria is the worst country for a baby to enter the world in 2013. It came 80th on the list.

Switzerland, with a population of around eight million, topped the chart, jumping from 13th place in a similar exercise in 1988.

Scandinavian countries Norway, Sweden and Denmark all make the top five in the "quality-of-life" index.

England is the Best Place for Heart Surgery
England and Wales are the best places in Europe to undergo a heart surgery, a recent report has said

The EIU attempted to measure which country will provide the best opportunities for a healthy, safe and prosperous life in years to come.

It used 11 statistically significant indicators, including geography, demography, social and cultural characteristics, public policy, the state of the world economy and future income per head.

Afghanistan: Not the Best Place to be a Mother
A new study shows that Afghanistan is the worst place in the world to be a mother and Norway is the best place.

One of the most important factors was being rich but other factors included crime, trust in public institutions and health of family life.

Australia came second, Singapore sixth, the Netherlands eighth, Canada ninth and Hong Kong came 10th on the list, the report said. The US comes in at 16, tied with Germany.

Crisis-ridden European countries, including Greece, Portugal and Spain, lag behind despite a favourable climate.

The largest European economies - Germany, France and Britain - also do not do well, the report said.

China comes at 49 while Russia is at 72.

The 1988 study, while also carried out by the EIU, was "not entirely serious", the daily said. It then included a factor for "cultural poverty" and another to measure how boring a country was. Switzerland score badly on both.

Source-IANS