Greeks live well, overall
Greece ranks 24th out of 175 countries in terms of life expectancy, education levels and per capita income but does not provide the best environment for working women, according to the United Nations’ human development report which was made public yesterday. Greece’s relatively high position on the list – which was topped by Norway and ended with Sierra Leone – is due to its citizens’ relatively long life expectancy levels, UN Development Program representative Douglas Gardner said yesterday, adding that Greece’s relatively low per capita income was the reason it wasn’t higher on the list. The report also provided a separate index for women’s participation in political and economic fields which showed better prospects for women in Botswana, Costa Rica and Namibia than in Greece, Italy and Japan. Overall, the report noted a decline in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where per capita income has dropped, with sub-Saharan Africa faring the worst due to an increase in AIDS-related deaths.
