Ranked: World’s Best Countries to Live in for Quality of Life, 2025

Deciding where to live is crucial, and finding the best country to live in is essential. Our 2025 Human Progress Index (HPI) rankings thoroughly analyze factors such as quality of life, life expectancy, education, political stability, per capita income, and opportunities. A country gets a higher score on the Human Progress Index (HPI) when its life expectancy, quality of life, education level, gross income per person, and work-life satisfaction are better.

The driving force that makes a country a global leader is none other than its citizens. According to the 2024 Human Progress Index (HPI) report by CEOWORLD Magazine, Switzerland is the world’s best country for quality of life. Norway and Iceland are next. Hong Kong secured fourth place, leading ahead of Sweden, while Denmark and Germany ranked sixth and seventh, respectively. The top 10 best countries for citizens to live in are Ireland, Singapore, and Australia, holding the eighth, ninth, and tenth positions, respectively.

World’s Best Countries to Live in for Quality of Life

Detailed findings & methodology:

To determine the rankings, researchers at the CEOWORLD magazine analyzed and compared 196 countries across three key categories: 1) Stability, 2) Satisfaction, and 3) Balance. To evaluate those dimensions, researchers looked at 23 indicators that fell into one of the three categories. Each attribute was graded on a 100-point scale.

1) Stability
economic growth
Indirect tax rate
corporate tax rate
The personal income tax rate
average life expectancy
earnings and job security
housing conditions and spending
household income (after taxes and transfers) and net financial wealth

2) Satisfaction
safety
level of happiness
quality of governance
corruption perceptions
child and maternal mortality
infrastructure and transport
efficacy of the public health system
Overall efficacy of the education system

3) Balance
human rights
civil liberties
political rights
work-life balance
religious freedom
equality among genders
Care about the environment

Raw data for countries were normalized on a 1-100 scale according to the following:  Each indicator was given equal weighting within each of the three categories, with some indicators comprising 2-3 sub-indicators also weighted equally. Each category was weighted equally to arrive at the overall index.

Sources: CEOWORLD magazine put together a panel of experts to go over data points culled from sources like the EIU Index, World Economic Forum, Global Insight, the Global Gender Gap Index, Gini, and Gender Gap index, The Legatum Prosperity Index, Transparency International, Environmental Performance Index, Better Life Index, CIA World Factbook, World Bank, UNDP Annual Report, as well as CEOWORLD magazine research. They then used that information to compare the world’s countries for their citizens and residents. Based on a consensus from these sources, the final choice of cities was judged editorially, as was their position on the list. All data is for the most recent period available.

So, these are some of the countries that have created a name for themselves in the citizenship arena. With the high quality of life practiced there, it can be easily concluded that citizens can enjoy a gala time in these nations!

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