Romania ranks 45th out of 163 countries in the global index analyzing the quality of life and social wellbeing

Romania ranks again 45^th out of 163 countries and is surpassed by all the other EU member states, according to the 2020 Social Progress Index, which analyzes the quality of life and social wellbeing and is conducted by the non-profit organization Social Progress Imperative with the support of Deloitte. Romania registers a score of 78.35 points out of 100, slightly higher than last year, which places it among the ranking’s third category countries, after Barbados, Bulgaria and Mauritius.

The Social Progress Index (SPI) measures the quality of life and social wellbeing of citizens from 163 countries, based on the analysis of three main dimensions. The methodology consists of assigning a score for basic needs categoryitems – nutrition and basic medical care, water and sanitation, shelter and personal safety -, for wellbeing categoryitems- access to basic knowledge, access to information and communications, health and wellness, environmental quality – and for opportunities category – personal rights, personal freedom and choice, inclusiveness, access to advanced education. Based on the score, the countries in the ranking are grouped into six categories arranged in descending order.

“The study points out that, in the absence of immediate measures which can contribute to a sustainable recovery of the world economy, the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to set social progress back by ten years. In Romania’s case, the current crisis emerged right after the best economic year recorded in our country’s history, 2019, which leads to the fact that its effects, which are already visible in indicators such as unemployment or economic decline, are not yet obvious in the social progress index, whose level is slightly higher than last year. Nevertheless, the threat of regression which is lying upon the entire world is also valid for us,” said Alexandru Reff, Country Managing Partner, Deloitte Romania and Moldova.

In the global ranking, Romania is in the top 50 countries in two of the three analyzed categories, basic needs (45^th place) and opportunities (49^th place), while in the wellbeing category it ranks 57^th. Analyzing the values assigned for each of the coordinates falling into these three categories, our country obtained the best scores for personal safety (36^th place), personal rights (46^th place), access to advanced education (49^th place) and access to communications and information (49^th place). On the other hand, the coordinates analyzed for Romania that recorded lower scores are inclusiveness (91^st place), shelter (90^th place), health and wellness (85^th place).

Norway continues to rank first in the world

• In 2020, Norway, Denmark and Finland occupy the first places in the ranking, while Central African Republic, Chad and South Sudan are on the last positions.
• The EU member states, except Croatia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania, are in the first two categories of countries in the ranking, with a good quality of life.
• Among the Central and Eastern Europe countries, the best place is occupied by Slovenia (22), followed by Estonia (24), the Czech Republic (25), Poland (31), Lithuania (32), Latvia (35), Slovakia (36), Croatia (39), Hungary (40), Bulgaria (43) and Romania (45).