New Zealand rated a prosperous nation to live in.

A global study of the world's independent countries see’s New Zealand rate high for being a prosperas nation. In recent months we have seen New Zealand not only rate extremely high but also to some international polls regarding things such as our Health Care, our Education System and Job Opportunities. Now, New Zealand has been rated the fifth most prosperous nation to live in, according to the international report.

The 2013 Legatum Prosperity Index ranks 142 nations on their "wealth and wellbeing" in eight categories, including health, education, safety and security, and economy.

New Zealand scored in the top 20 for all categories, coming out fifth overall, scoring well above the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan

The Legatum Prosperity Index is published by the London-based Legatum Institute, which provides research on different economic and social issues around the world.

New Zealand also topped 137 other countries in the study under the categories of Personal Freedom, Safety and Security and Social Capital. New Zealand came in 2 places higher than our sister country Australia and a whopping 16 places higher than Japan. Also beating countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Ireland and Denmark amongst many others.

The Legatum Prosperity Index  incorporates a mixture of traditional economic indicators alongside

measurements of well being and life satisfaction. Covering 96% of the world’s population and more

than 99% of global GDP it provides a more complete picture of global prosperity than any other tool

of its kind.

New Zealand's ranking has always been high with a slight understandable dip during the worlds recession in 2008, where it was placed one rank lower coming in at no.6 then the following year and since have scored a comfortable 5th place position.

People thinking of immigrating to New Zealand may find the full report, which is accessible online, a beneficial read. The information is plentiful in how the scoring is decided and will help to form an educated opinion of if New Zealand is the place for you to personally prosper. There countries to beat New Zealand in the study were - Sweden at number 4, Canada at number 3, Switzerland at number 2 and the top place went to Norway!