What does living well mean to you? If healthy lifestyle, high life expectancy, low obesity, low risk for depression and government spending on healthcare are important to you, check out what LetterOne’s Global Wellness Index found.

Instead of rating riches, retail or anything else that comes with an economic edge, LetterOne’s Indigo Wellbeing Index—a global wellness ranking of over 150 countries—looked at 10 health-related metrics: blood pressure, blood glucose, obesity, depression, happiness, alcohol use, tobacco use, exercise, healthy life expectancy and government spending on healthcare. What they found was pretty surprising, especially when it comes to which countries come out on top.

Using data from the World Health Organization, the World Happiness Report and other public health experts and reports, the index creators ranked which countries are the healthiest. Despite our economic size and influence, the United States isn’t at the top of the list. So which country did take top honors?

According to the index, our neighbor to the north—Canada—is the big winner, followed by Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. If you’re wondering where we stand, the United States didn’t even break into the top 25, instead ranking as number 37 out of over 150 countries ranked.

While the Indigo Wellbeing Index is certainly a comprehensive look at global health, it isn’t the only stat-based ranking. Earlier this year, Bloomberg released a similar list, naming Spain as the world’s healthiest country.

—Erica Loop

Featured photo: Daria Shevstova via Pexels

 

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