10 countries with the best quality of life

1. Australia

BEST SCORES Safety, Civic Engagement, Health
WORST SCORES Income, Work-Life Balance

Australia scored the highest voter turnout of all 36 countries in the OECD and scored high on most health criteria. However, a large percentage of workers working long hours and a relatively large gap between the rich and the poor brought down the country's overall score.

3. Canada

BEST SCORES Safety, Health, Life Satisfaction
WORST SCORES Income, Civic Engagement

The Great White North had the lowest rate of assaults among all OECD countries, contributing to a high safety score, and Canadians reported being generally healthy and happy. We lost points for our growing income disparity and low voter turnout.

4. Norway

BEST SCORES Life Satisfaction, Environment, Work-Life Balance
WORST SCORES Income, Civic Engagement

Norwegians gave their general satisfaction with life the second-highest grade among the 36 countries, which may have something to do with ranking fifth in total leisure time. Norway's income score was dragged down by a low average household financial wealth (though that was somewhat offset by the third-highest average disposable income.)

5. Switzerland

BEST SCORES Life Satisfaction, Health, Jobs
WORST SCORES Civic Engagement, Housing

Switzerland scored a perfect 10 in Life Satisfaction, the highest among all 36 countries, and also led with the highest employment rate. On the other hand, the historically-neutral state bred little engagement amongst its citizens, with the second-worst voter turnout, particularly among lower-income people. The high cost of housing (23 per cent of disposable income goes to housing) also dragged down the Swiss.

7. Denmark

BEST SCORES Work-Life Balance, Life Satisfaction, Environment
WORST SCORES Income, Housing

The Danes just wanna have fun, apparently. They ranked first in leisure and personal care time, dedicated an average of 16.06 hours per day in "me time." They were only middle-of-the-pack in wealth, and in the bottom 10 in housing expenditures.

8. Netherlands

BEST SCORES Work-Life Balance, Life Satisfaction, Community
WORST SCORES Income, Housing

The Netherlands had very similar results as Denmark, with high scores for personal time and happiness, and middle-of-the-pack results on income and housing. The Dutch also reported an above-average incidence of assault.

9. Iceland

BEST SCORES Community, Safety, Life Satisfaction
WORST SCORES Income, Housing

The small island nation reported the highest sense of community and had the lowest homicide rate of any country on the Index. However, the average income in Iceland was towards the bottom of the 36 countries.