best in the world

Gisteren werd gepubliceerd dat Noorwegen voor het 6e jaar op rij het "beste" land in de wereld is om in te leven...

Still "best in the world"
The latest list from the UNDP (United Nations Development Program) rates Norway as the best country in the world to live in for the sixth year running, after toppling Canada from the top spot in 2001.

The list is based on statistics on life expectancy, education levels and gross national product per inhabitant.
The Nordic countries all made it into the top 15 and the bottom of the list was dominated by African nations, with Niger finishing 177th and bottom.
The UNDP list has been published annually since 1990.

(Aftenposten Web Desks/NTB – Published 9/11/06)

In deze lijst staat België op een nog niet zo slechte 13e plaats.

Maar in augustus werd echter reeds hetvolgende gepubliceerd :

World's most expensive again
Oslo has not only been named the most expensive city in the world to live in again, the purchasing power of residents has allegedly fallen.

The Swiss Bank USB's latest comparison of price levels and purchasing power in 71 world capitals and major cities places Oslo at the top of expensive cities. But the real news is that the purchasing power of Oslo residents is as low as 15th.
The survey finds four European cities plus Tokyo as the world's priciest. Salaries are highest in Scandinavia, Switzerland and the USA. Oslo, London, Copenhagen, Zurich and Tokyo take the top five spots as the world's most expensive cities.
Asian workers spend more time on the job than the rest of the world, striving on average nearly 50 days more a year than their counterparts in Western Europe.
Oslo had the most expensive 'shopping basket' of 122 set products and services, while especially high housing and living expenses in London and New York are noted.
Swiss cities Zurich and Geneva kept their status as spots of highest purchasing power. In contrast to most other countries, where teachers and bus drivers earn below the average, such public sector jobs are relatively well paid in Switzerland and Scandinavia.
Norwegian experts were surprised and apparently puzzled by the results.
"It is strange that Oslo ends as low (in purchasing power) as 15th place - I would have expected to be significantly higher on the list," Professor of Social Economics Steinar Holden at the University of Oslo told newspaper VG.
He was especially surprised that German cities such as Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin were above Oslo on this list. In contrast to, for example, Ireland, the living standard in Germany is supposed to have declined over the past 15-20 years.
"It is very surprising that the residents of these German cities have more purchasing power than those in Oslo," Holden said.

(Aftenposten Web Desks/NTB – Published 10/08/06)

Dus ja, het is hier dus misschien wel het beste land, maar ook het duurste...

Uw beste,
Geert