Ireland 'fifth-best' place to live in world

Ireland ranks fifth in the world in terms of quality of life, according to a UN report released today.

The annual Human Development Index by the United Nations Development Programme, takes into account life expectancy, literacy, school enrolment and per capita gross domestic product in 182 countries.

Norway enjoys the world’s highest quality of life, while Niger suffers the lowest, according to a UN report released today.

Norway was followed by Australia and Iceland on the list, which drew on statistics dating from 2007, before Iceland was hit hard in global economic crisis. Afghanistan and Sierra Leone rounded out the bottom of the ranking.

The UK was ranked 21st and the US 13th.

The index was released as part of the UNDP’s annual Human Development Report, which this year highlighted migration.