Oz came in on the study with 8.12 out of 10 points, 0.1 behind the Switzerland.
New Zealand is the seventh best place to born next year, behind more Scandinavian countries, including Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
New Zealand was ranked seventh with a score of 7.95.
This is the first time the magazine has compiled the list since 1998, based on a collection of surveys about various determinants for quality of life, including geography, demography, social and cultural characteristics, government policies and the economy..
The main factor is wealth, admits The Economist’s Intelligence Unit spokesperson Laza Kekic.
“Being rich helps more than anything else, but it is not all that counts; things like crime, trust in public institutions and the health of family life matter too,” Kekic said in a statement.
Larger European economies such as Great Britain, France (26th) and Germany (16th) were listed well lower than smaller economies.
The US topped the 1998 list but came in 16th this time around. Australia was 18th in 1998.
These surveys are nothing if not consistent, for Australia anyway – the island continent was ranked second behind Norway in the annual United Nations Human Development Index last year for the second year in a row.
You can read the whole report on The Economist’s website right here.
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