Switzerland has been named as the best place for older people to live in a new study conducted by HelpAge International.
The Study ranks 96 countries according to the social and economic wellbeing of older people, taking stock of four key areas: income security, health, personal capability and an enabling environment.
Apart from Japan (in eighth place) all the top 10 countries were located either in Western Europe or North America. Australia and New Zealand ranked 17th and 12th respectively.
All regions are represented in the lowest quarter, with countries in Africa making up half of those with low income security rankings and poor health results.
Greece (79) Venezuela (76) and Turkey (75) are in a similar position to sub-Saharan African and Asian countries, while Afghanistan is ranked last.
However, HelpAge believes more of a concern is the amount of countries – 98 – that could not provide enough information to be included in the study.
The big story this year in the Index, is that millions of older people are invisible, living their lives in countries where information on the quality of older age is missing from international data sets,” said Toby Porter, Chief Executive, of HelpAge International.
“Poverty rates in old age are missing from international data sets in at least 93 countries. It’s particularly shocking in Africa where there was only enough data available to include 11 out of 54 countries. Consequently, we know more about the needs of older people in Norway and Luxembourg, two of the richest countries in the world, than we do about those in Liberia and Burundi, two of the poorest,” Porter added.
The Index represents 91 per cent of people aged 60 and over in the 96 countries covered – some 901 million people.
Top ten countries for elderly to live in
- Switzerland
- Norway
- Sweden
- Germany
- Canada
- Netherlands
- Iceland
- Japan
- United States
- United Kingdom