This week, the UN published its annual Human Development Index, ranking 188 countries according to life expectancy, education and income or standard of living. Norway topped the list as the nicest country in the world to live – for the 12th year in a row.
However, a BBC article wrote that it does not reflect the reality at all and listed five faults in Norway allegedly proving that it is not the best.
The first reason to challenge the legacy of Norway is high taxes, according to BBC. Despite having one of the highest average wages on the list – some $62,500 per capita, Norway has one of the highest rates of personal income tax in the world, at some 39%.
The British publication also finds the beer price in the country very intolerable. It states the price of a pint (0.57 litres) of beer in Norway is the second-most expensive in the world, at $10.40, while Tajikistan is the best county in this category.
In the article, Norway’s leadership is questioned for another reason: Drug. The country is described as a place having the second-highest rate of deaths by drug overdose in Europe – 70 per million, compared to a European average of only 16 per million. The high cost of drugs has been cited as a factor.
Petrol prices
BBC is also not happy with petrol prices. Petrol prices are also among the top few highest in the world, alongside the Netherlands, Hong Kong and Djibouti – today, the average price for a litre of unleaded petrol is around $1.61, writes the article.
It’s a bad place to be a wolf
The last reason why Norway does not deserve the title, according to BBC is the difficult life of wolves. It can be the best place to live for humans but not for wines. Citing a Guardian report, the article states that there may be only 30 wolves living in the wild in Norway – and that licences are being issued to hunt 16 of them by 11,571 hunters.
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