Ireland in top 10 on UN development index
Ireland is listed in tenth position and Britain in twelfth in a United Nations development index, which ranks nations according to income, life expectancy and education levels.
For the fourth year in a row, Norway tops the table, released in Brussels, followed by Sweden and Australia.
Of the top 20 nations, only Australia, Japan at ninth, and New Zealand at 18th, were outside Europe or North America. The United States was ranked eighth, a fall of one place from last year.
The world’s newest nation, East Timor, was included for the first time and was the only non-African nation in the bottom 20.
Last on the list for the seventh year running came Sierra Leone, which is still struggling to recover from years of civil war. Just above it were Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali.
Top 20:
1. Norway
2. Sweden
3. Australia
4. Canada
5. Netherlands
6. Belgium
7. Iceland
8. United States
9. Japan
10. Ireland
11. Switzerland
12. Britain
13. Finland
14. Austria
15. Luxembourg
16. France
17. Denmark
18. New Zealand
19. Germany
20. Spain
