How is the Quality of Life index Calculated

The data was collected by Numbeo.com, which is world’s largest database of user-generated content about cities and countries. Firstly it’s important to note the data was gathered from online surveys and not from official government reports. This implies that for some particular factors, the data shows the perception of the local population rather than figures drawn from government reports.

Please note the countries marked with * sign have low data reliability. In determining the Quality of Life index, 7 factors were taken into account, each being based upon a number of surveys as percentage of the population:

Safety: The safety index was determined by such questions as how serious the respondents felt the crime level is and how it changed over the last 3 years. It also included questions about the perception of safety during day and night and how worried the respondents are of getting robbed, insulted or attacked.

Healthcare: The respondents were asked about the competency of medical staff and the quality of medical equipment, the speed of completing examinations, the accuracy and friendliness when dealing with patients.

Consumer Prices: A relative indicator of prices for consumer goods, including groceries, restaurants, transportation and utilities but excluding rent and property prices. Like other indexes the CPI was collected from consumer responses to a few dozen questions on the prices of specific items. Movehub’s Cost of living Map uses the CPI to compare the cost of living around the world.

Purchasing Power: If Consumer Price Index (above) focuses on the absolute price of consumer goods, the purchasing power indicates the ability of the population to buy them. So for instance, the consumer goods prices in Eastern Europe may be lower than in Western Europe, but so is the purchasing power which shows even though prices are lower, people could afford less from their income.

Traffic Commute: this is probably one of the most interesting indexes that are part of the Quality of Life that accounts for a significant shifts in the rankings particularly of low income countries. It’s a composite index of the time spent commuting, but also the dissatisfaction by the consumed time and an estimation of CO2 consumption.

Pollution: This index considered such questions as perception of water and air quality, accessibility of drinking water, nosie pollution, public green spaces and satisfaction with rubbish disposal.

Property Price to Income Ratio: measures apartment purchase affordability using the ratio of median apartment prices to median household disposable income, expressed as years of income.