The world's 37 richest, healthiest, happiest, and most prosperous nations

The think tank Legatum Institute on Wednesday released its 12th annual global Prosperity Index, a huge survey that ranks most of the world's countries by their "prosperity" — a measure encompassing a range of variables including the strength of their economies and their natural environment.

In all, Legatum looks at more than 100 variables, including traditional indicators like per capita gross domestic product and the number of people in full-time work. It also analyzes more esoteric data such as the number of secure internet servers a country has and how well-rested people feel on a day-to-day basis.

The variables are then split into nine subindexes: economic quality, business environment, governance, personal freedom, social capital, safety and security, education, health, and natural environment.

The index looked at the 149 countries with the most available data.

Norway held the top spot for eight of the past nine years, dethroned only once by New Zealand in 2016, but could the Nordic nation hold on to top spot in 2018?

Check out the ranking below.

37. Israel

2017 position: 38th

Highest subcategory ranking: Health (16th)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 0

36. Lithuania

2017 position: 41st

Highest subcategory ranking: Natural environment (18th)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 0

35. South Korea

2017 position: 36th

Highest subcategory ranking: Education (17th)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 0

34. Italy

2017 position: 30th

Highest subcategory ranking: Safety and security (27th)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 0

33. Poland

2017 position: 32nd

Highest subcategory ranking: Safety and security (23rd)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 0

32. Slovakia

2017 position: 35th

Highest subcategory ranking: Safety and Security; Education (Both 26th)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 0

31. Costa Rica

2017 position: 29th

Highest subcategory ranking: Personal freedom (15th)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 0

30. Uruguay

2017 position: 28th

Highest subcategory ranking: Personal freedom (eighth)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 1

29. Mauritius

2017 position: 34th

Highest subcategory ranking: Social capital (21st)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 0

28. Cyprus

2017 position: 31st

Highest subcategory ranking: Personal freedom (24th)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 0

27. Czech Republic

2017 position: 26th

Highest subcategory ranking: Education (14th)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 0

26. Estonia

2017 position: 27th

Highest subcategory ranking: Natural environment (sixth)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 1

25. Spain

2017 position: 20th

Highest subcategory ranking: Personal freedom (17th)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 0

24. Portugal

2017 position: 25th

Highest subcategory ranking: Personal freedom (sixth)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 1

23. Japan

2017 position: 23rd

Highest subcategory ranking: Safety and security (second)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 2

22. Hong Kong

2017 position: 24th

Highest subcategory ranking: Safety and security (fourth)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 3

21. Singapore

2017 position: 17th

Highest subcategory ranking: Health (first)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 5

20. France

2017 position: 19th

Highest subcategory ranking: Natural environment (seventh)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 1

19. Malta

2017 position: 22nd

Highest subcategory ranking: Safety and security (sixth)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 2

18. Slovenia

2017 position: 21st

Highest subcategory ranking: Natural environment (first)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 2

17. United States of America

2017 position: 18th

Highest subcategory ranking: Business environment (first)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 3

16. Belgium

2017 position: 16th

Highest subcategory ranking: Personal freedom (12th)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 0

15. Austria

2017 position: 15th

Highest subcategory ranking: Health (sixth)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 2

14. Germany

2017 position: 11th

Highest subcategory ranking: Governance (10th)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 1

13. Australia

2017 position: 9th

Highest subcategory ranking: Social capital (second)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 3

12. Luxembourg

2017 position: 14th

Highest subcategory ranking: Health (second)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 5

11. Iceland

2017 position: 13th

Highest subcategory ranking: Economic quality (first)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 4

10. Ireland

2017 position: 12th

Highest subcategory ranking: Safety and security; Personal freedom (both fifth)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 5

9. Netherlands

2017 position: 6th

Highest subcategory ranking: Education; Governance (both fifth)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 6

8. Canada

2017 position: 8th

Highest subcategory ranking: Personal freedom (first)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 3

7. United Kingdom

2017 position: 10th

Highest subcategory ranking: Natural environment (second)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 3

6. Sweden

2017 position: 5th

Highest subcategory ranking: Economic quality (fifth)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 4

5. Denmark

2017 position: 7th

Highest subcategory ranking: Social capital (fifth)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 6

4. Switzerland

2017 position: 4th

Highest subcategory ranking: Education (second)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 6

3. Finland

2017 position: 3rd

Highest subcategory ranking: Governance; Education (both first)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 4

2. New Zealand

2017 position: 2nd

Highest subcategory ranking: Social capital (first)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 5

1. Norway

2017 position: 1st

Highest subcategory ranking: Safety and Security (first)

Number of top-10 subcategory rankings: 8

The world's 37 richest, healthiest, happiest, and most prosperous nations

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