Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania 23rd, 33rd, 35th in world Social Progress Index

  • 2015-04-13
  • from wire reports and TBT staff, TALLINN/RIGA/VILNIUS

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are ranked 23rd, 33rd and 35th respectively in this year's Social Progress Index, an annual list drawn up by the non-profit US organisation Social Progress Imperative that assesses the well-being of countries based on a variety of different measurements. This year, 133 countries were assessed, based on over 50 criteria, including access to healthcare, water supply, shelter, personal safety, access to information, sustainability, tolerance and access to education

All three Baltic countries have fallen slightly since the 2014 list. Estonia is down four places since last year, receiving a social progress index score of 80.49. Latvia has fallen by two places since 2014, and scores 74.12 on its social progress index, while Lithuania has also dropped two positions with a score of 74.00. Scandinavian countries dominated the top of the list, which was headed by Norway; Sweden and Switzerland also featured in the top five, along with Switzerland and New Zealand, By contrast, the Baltic countries' eastern neighbours scored much more weakly: Russia appeared in 71st position, while Belarus was a little higher in 66th position.

Estonia received very high scores in the categories of Nutrition and Basic Medical Care, Access to Basic Knowledge and Personal Rights (where it was ranked second in the world), but fared relatively poorly in terms of Tolerance and Inclusion, Access to Advanced Education and Ecosystem Sustainability. Latvia's three highest scores were in the categories of Nutrition and Basic Medical Care, Access to Basic Knowledge and Access to Information and Communications, while it also achieved comparatively poor scores in the fields of Tolerance and Inclusion and Access to Advanced Education - in addition to Health and Wellness, where it was ranked 116th out of all countries surveyed. Latvia was, however, assessed very positively in the category of Ecosystem Sustainability, where it was 8th in the world. 

Lithuania's scores were similar to Latvia's and Estonia's, with relatively high achievement in terms of Nutrition and Basic Medical Care, Access to Basic Knowledge and Access to Information and Communications, low scores in terms of Tolerance and Inclusion and Health and Wellness, as well as Personal Freedom and Choice, where it was ranked 56th in the world, compared to 41st and 23rd for Latvia and Estonia respectively.