Ireland has been rated the fifth most desirable country to live in, according to an annual UN table published today.
The UN Human Development Index again puts sub-Saharan African states at the bottom.
Rich, free-market countries dominate the top places, with Iceland, Norway, Australia, Canada and Ireland making up the first five. Ireland was rated fourth last year, eighth the previous year and 17th in 2000.
The United States slipped to 12th place from eighth last year.
Irish GDP is $38,505, fourth in the world. Life expectancy in Ireland is 78.4, which is 26th on the list. Japanese have the longest life expectancy - 82.3 years - and Zambians the lowest, at 40.5.
The United States scores high on real per capita GDP, which at $41,890 is second only to that of Luxembourg ($60,228), but less well on life expectancy - joint last in the top 26 countries, along with Denmark and South Korea, at 77.9 years.
Per capita GDP is 45 times higher in Iceland than in Sierra Leone. The index - blending 2005 figures for life expectancy, educational levels and real per capita income - finds that all 22 countries falling into its "low human development" category are in sub-Saharan Africa, with Sierra Leone last. The region suffers major Aids-related societal problems.
In 10 of these countries, two children in five will not reach the age of 40, said the compilers at the UN Development Program.
The report also warned that the world's poor face the most immediate and severe costs of climate change, with the threat of "unprecedented reversals" in poverty reduction, health and education.
It called for deep cuts in carbon dioxide to limit warming below two degrees and for more funds to help developing countries adapt to climate change.
The index ranks 175 UN member countries plus Hong Kong and the Palestinian territories. It does not include 17 countries, including Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia due to inadequate data.
Norway had held top spot for six years but was edged into second place by Iceland this year because of new life expectancy estimates and updated figures for GDP, the report said.
The United Nations has published its human development index every year since 1990.