Why Global Citizens Should Care
The United Nations aims to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all by 2030. While many countries around the world have made progress, access to health care and a healthy lifestyle remain out of reach for too many people. You can join us in taking action on this issue here.

It’s official: Spain is now considered the healthiest country in the world.

According to a study of 169 nations released last month, Spain now ranks at the top of the Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index with 92.7 points out of 100.

There’s a range of reasons: public health care, the Mediterranean diet, life expectancy, smoking habits, lower rates of obesity, environmental conditions, and access to safe drinking water.

Spain also has a higher life expectancy for newborns, and life expectancy is 83 years old.   

"Primary care is essentially provided by public providers, specialised family doctors and staff nurses, who provide preventive services to children, women and elderly patients, and acute and chronic care," according to the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies 2018 review of Spain, noting a decline the past decade in cardiovascular diseases and deaths from cancer, according to EL PAÍS.

Researchers also believe that the secret is the local diet: “A Mediterranean diet, supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil or nuts, had a lower rate of major cardiovascular events than those assigned to a reduced-fat diet, according to a study led by the University of Navarre Medical School,” the Bloomberg Index stated.

The other top countries in the ranking include Italy (second), Iceland (third), and Japan (fourth).

Globally, in North America, Canada ranks 16th, the United States ranks 35th, and Mexico ranks 53rd. In the United States, life expectancy dropped because of the opioid crisis and overdose deaths. Cuba is five spots above the United States and the only nation that high in the ranking that is not classified as “high income” by the World Bank.  

In Latin America, Chile and Costa Rica are among the healthiest countries, while in Asia, Japan and South Korea are the leaders.

The unhealthiest nations in the ranking, meanwhile, are sub-Saharan economies, as well as Haiti, Afganistán and Yemen.

You can find the top 10 rankings below, and more about the Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index here.

The Top 10 Healthiest Countries in the World

1. Spain

2. Italy

3. Iceland

4. Japan

5. Switzerland

6. Sweden

7. Australia

8. Singapore

9. Norway

10. Israel

TopicsSpain

Editorial

Defeat Poverty

These Are the Top 10 Healthiest Countries in the World

By Erica Sánchez