Wondering what Dopers thought about this list of 170 countries showing most have made social progress over the last few decades? If it has any validity, maybe Hans Rosling was right. But the huge general increase should be treated with skepticism, a lot of the progress seems somewhat cosmetic.
I believe that’s behind a paywall.
The data is taken from this site/organization. The article just puts a paragraph in front of it before listing the results (and I think gives a position change ranking for 1990-2020)
Sorry, could not find a free version.
Jophiel has listed the 2022 version which is very similar.
Almost every country has jumped 5-20 points in the rankings since 1990. Very few countries went down in score.
The US is listed in 31st place. It was in 8th place in 1990. Canada is in 9th place but topped the charts in 1990.
Here is a synopsis of the 2022 results.
An excerpt from the link directly above (from 2022).
“The UK has fallen from 11th rank in the world in 2011 to now standing at 19th and is likely to fall further, dropping into the second subgroup of social progress (out of 6). In terms of rights, it currently places 35th globally, after Chile, the Czech Republic and Barbados, while in terms of discrimination and violence against minorities, the country has fallen from 29th position in 2011 to 93rd globally.
Although the U.S. has not made it onto the chart, it has stagnated since 2011 and been in decline since 2017 (-0.56). In terms of the interpersonal violence indicator, the country ranks 107th in the world, behind the Republic of Congo, Nicaragua and Sierra Leone, while it is 102nd for violence against minorities, behind South Africa and Poland.
By contrast, the eight countries on our chart showing the most improvement have all also moved up the ranks. As the report details, these have all been low and lower middle-income countries, including The Gambia, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone. Richer countries have generally improved at a slower rate.
The Social Progress Index focuses on the non-economic aspects of social performance. A total of 169 countries were analyzed based on complete data under the 12 following indicators: nutrition and basic medical care, water and sanitation, shelter, personal safety, access to basic knowledge, access to information and communications, health and wellness, environmental quality, personal rights, personal freedom and choice, inclusiveness and access to advanced education.”
Hmm, thought Kiwiland might have shaded us but there we are ranked at #4 amongst good company.