According to Bloomberg Ranking’s analysis of global health, Italy is the second healthiest country on the planet. To identify the healthiest countries in the world, Bloomberg Rankings created health scores and health-risk scores for countries with populations of at least one million. They then subtracted the risk score from the health score to determine the country’s rank. The health score is based on mortality rates in each country, while the health risk score is based on different factors likely to limit health, such as the proportion of young people smoking and the number of immunizations. Five-year averages, when available, were used to mitigate some of the short-term year-over-year swings. Below are the top-line results.

Among the Western European nations, Italy ranked first ahead of Switzerland, Spain and the Netherlands. It is likely that these standings are also a reflection of Italy’s extremely efficient healthcare. In fact, last year Bloomberg Rankings named Italy as the 3rd most efficient healthcare in the world. More on that here.

As is often repeated, “health is wealth” and it’s encouraging to see that the Italian population is in good standing both in terms of health and the services that are provided to maintain that vitality. Moreover, a euro spent towards healthcare in Italy goes much further than most countries. This is good news not only for people living in Italy, but also for prospective employers who are considering starting operations in Italy’s crescendoing startup scene. For the full rankings click here.