WITH THE effects of the recession still being felt and a brutal budget looming, it is perhaps hard for Irish people to see any silver lining in the dark clouds.
But it appears things are different from the outside looking in, with a UN Development Programme report ranking Ireland fifth in a quality-of-life index.
Ireland retained its spot in the top five countries in the annual Human Development Index, with just Norway, Australia, New Zealand and the US rated as better places to call home.
Despite the country’s recent economic turmoil, Ireland remains unchanged since 2005, while Iceland, which suffered its own financial meltdown, slipped by 10 places to 17th place in that period.
Ireland is among 42 countries which have a “very high human development” ranking based on indicators such as life expectancy at birth, which stands at 80.3 years; gross national income per capita, which is $33,078; and average schooling totalling 11.6 years.
In Zimbabwe, ranked last out of 169 on the list, life expectancy is just 47 years, average schooling stands at 7.2 years, and gross national income per capita is just €176.
Ireland ranked ahead of Canada in eighth place, Germany in 10th place and the UK, which slipped to 26th.
However, Ireland fares a lot less favourably when it comes to gender equality in which it ranks 29.
The index was devised in 1990 as a rival to gross national product per capita, the traditional marker of human progress.
This year’s index was published on the day a report by the World Bank placed Ireland ninth out of 183 countries in its Doing Business rankings.