Best Countries to Live In
compiled in 2010 using 2000 to 2010 data.
data obtained from the following websites: http://www.photius.com/rankings/ and http://www.wikipedia.com/
document is subject to change and revision without notice.

This document attempts to answer the question: "What are the best countries to live in?" (or "what are the best overall countries in the world?")
The top 10 countries are listed for each category.
Higher points are better. First place gets 10 skill points and 10th place gets 1 skill point.

Rankings are based on the following criteria:
•    Power
•    Wealth
•    Lowest Personal Taxes
•    Number of Active Military Troops
•    Life Expectancy
•    Lowest Murder Rates
•    IQ
•    Student Performance Reading, Math, and Science
•    Current account balance (2011 data obtained from wikipedia on nov 2012)


Rows are sortable by clicking on each header.

CountryRankRanking Type
Japan59Total Points
China37Total Points
South Korea33Total Points
United States32Total Points
France21Total Points
Russia21Total Points
Germany20Total Points
Australia19Total Points
Singapore19Total Points
Switzerland17Total Points
Italy16Total Points
New Zealand15Total Points
Greece12Total Points
Iceland12Total Points
India12Total Points
Ireland12Total Points
Netherlands11Total Points
United Kingdom11Total Points
Canada10Total Points
Finland10Total Points
Austria9Total Points
Mexico9Total Points
Norway8Total Points
Saudi Arabia8Total Points
Spain8Total Points
Denmark7Total Points
North Korea7Total Points
Sweden7Total Points
Pakistan6Total Points
Mongolia5Total Points
Brazil4Total Points
Iran3Total Points
Kuwait3Total Points
Luxembourg3Total Points
Belgium2Total Points
Monaco2Total Points
Turkey2Total Points
Andorra1Total Points
Egypt1Total Points
Qatar1Total Points
United States10 in Power
Russia9 in Power
China8 in Power
France7 in Power
United Kingdom6 in Power
Japan5 in Power
India4 in Power
Germany3 in Power
Pakistan2 in Power
Brazil1 in Power
United States10 in Wealth
Japan9 in Wealth
China8 in Wealth
Germany7 in Wealth
France6 in Wealth
United Kingdom5 in Wealth
Italy4 in Wealth
Brazil3 in Wealth
Spain2 in Wealth
Canada1 in Wealth
South Korea10 in Lowest Personal Taxes
Mexico9 in Lowest Personal Taxes
New Zealand8 in Lowest Personal Taxes
Ireland7 in Lowest Personal Taxes
Japan6 in Lowest Personal Taxes
Australia5 in Lowest Personal Taxes
Iceland4 in Lowest Personal Taxes
United States3 in Lowest Personal Taxes
Switzerland2 in Lowest Personal Taxes
Canada1 in Lowest Personal Taxes
China10 in Number of Active Military Troops
United States9 in Number of Active Military Troops
India8 in Number of Active Military Troops
North Korea7 in Number of Active Military Troops
Russia6 in Number of Active Military Troops
South Korea5 in Number of Active Military Troops
Pakistan4 in Number of Active Military Troops
Iran3 in Number of Active Military Troops
Turkey2 in Number of Active Military Troops
Egypt1 in Number of Active Military Troops
Japan10 in Life Expectancy
Australia9 in Life Expectancy
France8 in Life Expectancy
Sweden7 in Life Expectancy
Spain6 in Life Expectancy
Italy5 in Life Expectancy
Greece4 in Life Expectancy
Switzerland3 in Life Expectancy
Monaco2 in Life Expectancy
Andorra1 in Life Expectancy
Japan10 in Lowest Murder Rates
Singapore9 in Lowest Murder Rates
Greece8 in Lowest Murder Rates
Denmark7 in Lowest Murder Rates
Austria6 in Lowest Murder Rates
Norway5 in Lowest Murder Rates
Ireland4 in Lowest Murder Rates
Luxembourg3 in Lowest Murder Rates
Iceland2 in Lowest Murder Rates
Netherlands1 in Lowest Murder Rates
Singapore10 in IQ
South Korea9 in IQ
Japan8 in IQ
Italy7 in IQ
Iceland6 in IQ
Mongolia5 in IQ
Switzerland4 in IQ
Austria3 in IQ
China2 in IQ
Norway1 in IQ
Finland10 in Student Performance Reading, Math, and Science
South Korea9 in Student Performance Reading, Math, and Science
Canada8 in Student Performance Reading, Math, and Science
New Zealand7 in Student Performance Reading, Math, and Science
Netherlands6 in Student Performance Reading, Math, and Science
Australia5 in Student Performance Reading, Math, and Science
Japan4 in Student Performance Reading, Math, and Science
Switzerland3 in Student Performance Reading, Math, and Science
Belgium2 in Student Performance Reading, Math, and Science
Ireland1 in Student Performance Reading, Math, and Science
Germany10 in Current account balance
China9 in Current account balance
Saudi Arabia8 in Current account balance
Japan7 in Current account balance
Russia6 in Current account balance
Switzerland5 in Current account balance
Netherlands4 in Current account balance
Kuwait3 in Current account balance
Norway2 in Current account balance
Qatar1 in Current account balance

Note that these results are solely based on the given criteria above.
The final results do not necessarily reflect the best countries to live in. (note the occurance of North Korea)
It can be seen though, that certain countries begin to drastically or considerably separate from the rest.
Additional relevant criteria can be used to help refine the list.