This Is the World's Healthiest Country

Iceland takes No. 1 spot; Lesotho is last
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 5, 2017 10:50 AM CDT
5 Healthiest, Least Healthy Countries
Hiking is just one of the healthy activities you can do in Iceland.   (Getty Images/powerofforever)

Curious which nations are considered the healthiest in the world—and which ones may need a health overhaul? 24/7 Wall St. examined 170 countries with populations of 250,000 or more, using various gauges from World Bank data such as infant and maternal mortality rates, life expectancy, and tuberculosis incidence to come up with its rankings. Iceland, with its universal health care and ample per-capita spending on health care, shoots to the top of the list, while Lesotho sits at the bottom, not even breaking out of the 40s in terms of average life span. The US, meanwhile, fell behind 30 other countries when it comes to longevity. Here, the top five healthiest and least healthy nations, along with average life expectancies in years:

Healthiest

  1. Iceland, 82.1
  2. Japan, 83.6
  3. Italy, 82.7
  4. Singapore, 82.6
  5. Sweden, 82
Least healthy
  1. Lesotho, 49.7
  2. Central African Republic, 50.7
  3. Sierra Leone, 50.9
  4. Swaziland, 48.9
  5. Nigeria, 52.8
Check out where other countries around the globe rank. (The 10 countries with the highest quality of life.)

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