Austria: 13th best birthplace

After Vienna being hailed as the city with the highest quality of life and Austria having the lowest unemployment rate in the EU, it may come as a surprise that a study by the Economist Intelligence Unit ranks Austria only 13th in the list of best countries to be born in. The study is based on the results of subjective surveys (how satisfied with life people say they are) linked to objective quality of life statistics. While wealth is a decisive element, among the 11 factors assessed were geography, quality of family life, trust in public institutions and crime rates.

Out of 80 countries, Austria scored better than Germany and the United States, which tied at 16th place, but lower than the Scandinavian countries, which all made the top five.

First place goes to Switzerland, with Australia as runner-up and Nigeria was deemed the worst place to be born in 2013.