NZ ranked 20th in UN quality of life survey

New Zealand is ranked ahead of the United Kingdom but below many European nations in this year's Human Development Report, published by the United Nations Development Programme. Photo / Herald on Sunday

New Zealand has been named the 20th best country for quality of life by a UN report on migration and development.

The Human Development Report 2009 (HDR) calculates the well-being of people in 182 countries by taking into account life expectancy, literacy, school enrolment and GDP per capita.

The countries listed are divided into four tiers on the human development index: Very High, High, Medium and Low.

People living in countries named within the top two tiers can expect to be better educated, to live longer and to earn more, the report said.

One in five adults in Medium HDI countries and one in two adults in Low HDI countries are still illiterate, but this is rare elsewhere, the report added.

New Zealand is just ahead of the United Kingdom and Germany on the list, but behind Australia (2nd), Canada (4th) and Ireland (5th).

Norway took the top spot and Iceland was 3rd.

There were 15 European countries in the top twenty and Japan (10th) was the highest-ranked Asian country.

The report's lead author, Jeni Klugman, said despite significant improvements over time, progress had been uneven.

"Many countries have experienced setbacks over recent decades, in the face of economic downturns, conflict-related crises and the HIV and AIDS epidemic."

The 2009 report was based on figures from 2007, which is the most recent internationally comparable data, so its findings pre-date the global financial crisis.

It showed that 20.9 per cent of New Zealand's total population was made up of migrants, while our emigration rate was 11.8 per cent.

The potential to earn more money was identified as one of the main factors for people moving between countries, with commissioned research pinpointing "large differences in income between stayers and and movers to OECD countries, with the biggest differences from those moving from low-HDI countries".

The report said migrant workers in the United States earned about four times what they did in their home countries, "while Pacific Islanders in New Zealand increased their net real wages by a factor of three".

"Evidence from a range of countries suggests that income gains increase over time, as the acquisition of language skills leads to better integration in the labour market," the report said.

New Zealand's seasonal migrant programmes, which allow people to work for part of the year in sectors such as agriculture, were described as "well designed" in the report.

It also showed that migrant children in New Zealand, Australia and Ireland did just as well in school as their native peers, bucking a trend seen in many other countries.

"Even if migrant children gain access to better schools than would have been available to them at origin, they do not all perform well in examinations in comparison with their locally born peers," the report said.

Foreign-born children at schools in Israel, Macau (China), the Russian Federation and Serbia were other notable exceptions.

Dr Klugman told the Sydney Morning Herald countries like Australia did well in attracting skilled migrants when compared with parts of Europe.

However she highlighted the need for more permanent jobs for low-skilled migrants as well.

"The need for low-skilled people is just as significant. There are very large parts of the economy that require the services of people in childcare, aged care and a whole range of services," she said.

Five countries - China, Colombia, France, Peru and Venezuela - rose three or more places in the rankings since the last list was compiled.

Niger was the lowest-ranked country in the report, with Mali, Central African Republic, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan making up the bottom five.

Human Development Index 2009 - Top 20 rankings

1. Norway
2. Australia
3. Iceland
4. Canada
5. Ireland
6. Netherlands
7. Sweden
8. France
9. Switzerland
10. Japan
11. Luxembourg
12. Finland
13. United States
14. Austria
15. Spain
16. Denmark
17. Belgium
18. Italy
19. Liechtenstein
20. New Zealand

* To read the full report, click here.