Newsweek ranks Jamaica one of best countries to live

Friday, August 20, 2010

JAMAICA is the top Caribbean country to live in terms of education, health, quality of life, economic competitiveness, and political environment, a Newsweek magazine ranking has said.

According to the magazine's first-ever Best Countries special issue, Jamaica ranked 47th of 100 countries while Cuba and the Dominican Republic — the only other Caribbean countries on the list — were ranked 50th and 55th respectively.

"We set out to answer a question that is at once simple and incredibly complex — if you were born today, which country would provide you the very best opportunity to live a healthy, safe, reasonably prosperous, and upwardly mobile life?" Newsweek said in its latest issue.

Newsweek said it compiled metrics within the five categories and used a weighted formula to arrive at an overall list of the world's top 100 countries.

According to Newsweek, the effort took several months, during which it received copious aid from an advisory board that included Nobel laureate and Columbia University professor Joseph E Stiglitz; McKinsey & Co Social Sector Office director Byron Auguste; McKinsey Global Institute director James Manyika; Jody Heymann, the founding director of McGill University's Institute for Health and Social Policy and a professor at the university; and Geng Xiao, director of Columbia's Global Centre for East Asia.

"They would be the first to admit that like any list, this one isn't perfect," said Newsweek. "Finding comparable data points for the world's richest and poorest countries alike was hugely constraining -- often we had to choose fewer or less-nuanced metrics in order to include the broadest array of nations. What's more, our list represents a snapshot of how countries looked in 2008 and 2009 (we always used the most recent data available for each metric), rather than a historic or predictive view."

The top 10 countries are Finland, Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, Luxembourg, Norway, Canada, Netherlands, Japan, and Denmark.

The USA is ranked 11th and Germany, which is Europe's largest economy and which has experienced a recovery from the global financial crisis, is ranked 12th.

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COMMENTS (27)

London Man
8/21/2010

Again some people don't read the full article before commenting. It say the best in the Caribbean. Again we are not first worldly developed. And what services you get abroad is not at yard. Again if we are happy then it must be among the best. What comments i have seen here, happens in the well developed countries. I live in the UK and look at the burglaries figure, youngsters drinking and smoking. Oh please you think Jamaica is so immune from from crime and violence. Keep staying in your box.

Stanley Palmer
8/21/2010

@Anancy Bedward.
I'd rather be alive in the cold than be dead in warm Dovecot.

gary lee
8/21/2010

Living on borrowed cash. When the JLP is in power you hear this sort of crap from the USA who seem to want us kissing their asses instead of hugging up places like Cuba and Venezuela. For Jamaicans I guess it depends on what side of the fence you are on, the green side or the brown side.

Nejeeper KNG
8/20/2010

@Anancy, Sonny, and James you guys mek mi laugh hard. Love Jamaica, love my fellow Jamaicans. Mek we tek the good news when we get it.

Maude Cooper
8/20/2010

Jamaica is a wonderful place if only the joint security forces could get the killings under control. Still it is horrible to admit that there are worst places out there. On the other hand this maybe an incentive for some of the positive movements happening in Jamaica, such as holding some the untouchables accountable?

owen lloyd
8/20/2010

Some of you in here running them mouth, if you get a visa I bet you all would leave to.

James Allen
8/20/2010

Sweet sweeet jamaica naah lef yah, all a unooh fi tan a fahren and top criticized yard, hypocrites

Anthony Everton
8/20/2010

LOL at some of these comments. After so many bad overseas press we cant appreciate something good again? As for me my country comes first. Yendi Phillips for Miss Universe 2010!

Anancy Bedward
8/20/2010

To those of you in cold climes who doubt Newsweek. I hope you feel the same way when winter a buss onuu a$s come December-March.

Chris Miss jones
8/20/2010

Sonny Black's, graphic description of the conduct of the poll was so funny I couldn't stop laughing ('only in a hotel or on the golf course, but what about those under the beds hidng from gunmen") fi real. But I agree with others in the forum Jamaica is a paradise,but "we can't see the woods for the trees" If everyone could see it from the perspective of living overseas.Yes we have problems like other countrie,but until we stop self hating we can't change."None but ourselves can free our minds"

Island Boi
8/20/2010

All I have to say is...REALLY?!

C M
8/20/2010

@Ainsworth : What are U talking about. ppl living out of Ja understand whats taking place on the Island, we read it everyday, murder, extortion and all the other crimes, I visited for 5 days and 5 different times ppl tried to rob me, once in the bank and another at the cambia, no cop in sight, give me a break their are criminal elements not the mentions the LAWYERS, from top to bottom criminal elements. the locals are oblivious to what 's happening, the place need a "WASHOUT" WEY U BEGIN.

howie J
8/20/2010

I have travelled from Freeport, Bahamas down to Trinidad, from north to south and I have to agree with this study. As an Englishman said, “These places are like Jamaica’s backyard.”

Maude Cooper
8/20/2010

If there are 195 countries in the world and this is based on 100 of them, and Jamaica end up being 47, I wonder which were the other 53 countries. Could they be mostly in the continent of Africa, where tribe constantly rise up against other tribes and corruption is even more rampant than Jamaica? Or is it just coincidental that the continent of Africa is consisting of 53 countries? Things that makes one go aaaah!

Shorna Watson
8/20/2010

Are you kidding me,go put away that trumpet and wipe that silly smile off your face, we have nothing to giggle about. We were not rated as the top 10,only then we would be making a statement. Did those surveyors check out our political environment, we are corrupted to the core, with extremely angry civil servants to deal with. We even have human rights group to back criminals while ignoring the real victims. Our quality of life totals to one bullet in most cases while we think we are safe in bed

Change di Consitution
8/20/2010

This has to be one of the most laughable articles I've read all year. Newsweek is risking serious damage to thier credibility with this nonsense. Have they been under a rock for the past 15 years? This is hilarious!

Jacqueline Samms
8/20/2010

News week is trying to help out tourism? how can we be the "Murder capital of the world" and the best place to live three months later?

Jeff James
8/20/2010

This is absolutely true if you have a lot of money.

Sonny Black
8/20/2010

This must be a joke, did those pollsters conduct interviews in the Hotel and Golf Courses or did they asked those who hiding under their beds from Gunmen or the nurses or teachers who cannot be paid or even the businessmen who has to pay extortionists. Oh maybe they polled those lying politicians who misled the nation by defending a known criminal, lied to the nation and then apologised and are still able to keep their jobs and be called "Leaders". What a joke.

john blake
8/20/2010

This confirms that payola is alive and well. It was happening with the Dudus issue as well.

Ainsworth Cole
8/20/2010

Jamaicans you don't know the half of it, our country is regarded as a paradise by the outside world, lots of other places and peoples would gladly swap theirs for ours. Only we alone don't seem to know that so we continue to mash up the place ,put down the place and beat up on our selves. Maybe some of us need to spend some time abroad and away from Jamaica and see how we come to treasure and love the place. One Love Jamaica mi seh,lets make it truly number one, email-onelovejamaica17@yahoo.com

Jaye Stone
8/20/2010

I guess the US Embassy won'tt have so many visa applications amd can begin to scale down their services in the Consular division!

Yard Vibz
8/20/2010

Nicolas mi fren, mi feel yuh pon dah 1 yah, brethren. Real joke thing, Zara. A place where people murder old women & children while they sleep, happens to be one of the best places to live. Newsweek needs to be housed in one of the little rooms @ Bellview because they are mentally-challenged.

Wilfred Gray
8/20/2010

This is good and we appreciated, based upon the five parameters, measured,it is fact.
Jamaicans, void the `violence` is`more freedom country for us,thananywhere esle.
vindcation,liberation, how can we jah ovah,i nthisstrange land.
Despite,ourselves,`yard nice.

Wharf Dawg
8/20/2010

Hahahahaha!! Nicolas Henry.. Jamaica was the only English speaking country from the Caribbean that participated. So if you come in Number One from One what does it matter?
Guess what too? Our much maligned political system is what actually caused us to place so low in the survey.. All other things considered we would have place about 60th, so this is not anything to really crow about.

zara thustra
8/20/2010

Is this a joke?

Nicolas Henry
8/20/2010

I wonder who participated in such survey?

Did you watch American football's Super Bowl on Sunday?
	Yes, but just for the advertisements
	Yes, just for the game itself
	Yes, for both the game and advertisements
	No, I did not watch the Super Bowl.

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