The 19 countries with the highest standard of life

Scandinavian nations scored highly in the "Social Progress Report," but more surprising are the very large countries which came lower down the list - suggesting that a strong GDP per capita is not the only gauge for a high standard of living.

Despite this, all of the top 19 countries are developed nations - so having a strong economy clear has an impact.

The "Social Progress Report" collates the scores of three main indexes:

• Basic Human Needs, which includes medical care, sanitation, and shelter.
• Foundations of Wellbeing, which covers education, access to technology, and life expectancy.
• Opportunity, which looks at personal rights, freedom of choice, and general tolerance.

The index then adds the three different factors together, before giving each nation a score out of 100. You can see the countries with the highest quality of life below.