Norway named world's most prosperous country

For the sixth time in a row, Norway is named the most prosperous country in an annual ranking by Legatum Institute. The institute has evaluated 142 countries based on their economic performance, as well as other important ares such as education, health, personal freedom, security and safety. Norway takes third place for economy, fifth for health and education, seventh in government and second in personal freedom.

The overall score places Norway first in the ranking, whereas Switzerland takes second place.

Senior advisor James Barty at the Legatum Institute thinks that Norway scores high because of both the country's economy as well as strong social values and progress within education and health. 

"It is well known that Norway is among the best countries in the world when looking at GDP per capita," says Bjørn Hvinden, research manager at NOVA and a professor of sociology. 

"Many countries are rich, but what characterizes Norway and a few other countries is that we distribute our wealth in a good way. It is important to maintain the view that our wealth should be beneficial to everybody," Hvinden explains to TV2.

Joakim Blix Prestmo is a researcher at Statistics Norway, and adds that the small difference between wages is another reason why Norway ranks as number one. The difference between the highest-paid indviduals and the lowest-paid individuals is not as high as in many other countries. There is also a high rate of labor participation among men and women.

"When there are more people working, more people are contributing to our wealth," Prestmo points out.