This may come as a surprise, but India is miles ahead of its massive neighbour China in, of all the things, prosperity!
The Legatum Prosperity Index, which ranks 104 nations and 90 per cent of the world’s population on 9 different indices, ranked India at 45 and China at
75.
India’s superior ranking was based on critical non-economic factors such as personal freedom, national tolerance for immigrants and ethnic and racial minorities. India stood at 47 in this against China’s 91.
Expectedly, China out-weighed India in several economic indicators.
Scandinavian countries topped the list — Finland at the top, followed by Switzerland, Sweden, and Denmark. The United States stood 9 and the United Kingdom at 13. Emerging giant Brazil stood slightly ahead of India at 41.
Despite being ranked 5 on Social Capital Index, overall ranking of India was hit by low levels of education, internal security and health. “India is a classic example of a country whose prosperity stems largely from its social capital and quality of life rather than its performance on the purely economic measures,” said William Inboden, senior vice president of Legatum Institute.