Our lives are almost better than ever; so much so that we're spending an increasing amount of time out of the country.

The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics annual measure of the quality of our lives shows things are getting better across a range of fronts that extend beyond the financial.

The number of Australians leaving for short-term holidays or work has hit record numbers. Credit:James Davies

We are more healthy, more educated, and more likely to be in work than a decade ago — and we earn more and have more saved. But our productivity is going backwards along with our air quality and biodiversity.

The ABS admits there's much about our standard of living it can't yet measure. It would like to be able to report on social cohesion, democracy and governance, and the quality of our land, oceans and rivers, but it hasn't yet found an encompassing measure for each. It lists them as "important" in Measures of Aus-tralia's Social Progress 2011 and says it's still looking for a way to turn each into a number.