Norway leads global prosperity index, with Singapore top in Asia

In a prosperity survey of 142 territories, the Republic came in tops again in Asia. It also ranked 17th worldwide, up one spot compared to last year. In the 2015 Prosperity Index by London-based international think tank Legatum Institute released on Monday (November 2), Singapore also came in third overall in the Asia-Pacific region, behind New Zealand and Australia in fourth and 12th, respectively.

Merlion and the Singapore Skyline

Globally, Norway topped the index, despite not coming in first in any of the eight categories - but it did rank among the top 10 for all categories.

The village of Reine in Lofoten in Norway, the country that topped the global 2015 Prosperity Index

Helping Singapore to 17th overall in the world was the economy sub-index (or category), where the country came in first worldwide, overtaking Switzerland which was first last year. At US$240,750, Singapore also has the second highest capital per worker in the world - behind Luxembourg at US$272,931 per worker - and the third-highest manufactured exports classified as "high-tech" at 47 per cent.

Map showing general definition of Asia-Pacific - it typically includes much of East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania

For the other sub-indices at a global level, Singapore was 12th in both "entrepreneurship and opportunity" and "safety and security";  13th in governance, 14th in health, 15th in education and 25th in social capital. The Republic's worst-performing category was in personal freedom, where it ranked 38th in the world. However, this still put it fourth overall in Asia - behind Hong Kong (26), Taiwan (31) and Japan (33).

Singapore’s Raffles Place, part of the country’s Central Business District – it has the second highest capital per worker in the world

For other ASEAN nations, Malaysia came in next highest overall at 44th. Thailand was ranked 48th, Vietnam at 55th, Indonesia at 69th, Philippines at 74th, Laos at 95th. Cambodia came in last at 112 out of 142 territories.

A cultural village in Cambodia, a country which came in last in Asean in the Prosperity Index

(All images - credit: Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons licence)