Abstract

PIP: 10 measures of quality of life are used to rank 141 countries in the International Human Suffering Index (HSI). The Index differentiates between extreme, high, moderate, and minimal levels of human suffering. Social welfare is the sum of 10 measures: life expectancy, daily caloric intake, clean drinking water, infant immunization, secondary school enrollment, gross national product per capita, the rate of inflation, communication technology (i.e., telephones), political freedom, and civil rights. Each measure is ranked between 0 and 10. The highest score indicates the greatest country stress, with the worst possible score being 100. About 1 billion people live in desperate poverty. Living conditions are the worst in Mozambique (93), followed by Somalia, Afghanistan, Haiti, and Sudan. Most of these countries also have high population growth. The most comfortable countries are Denmark (1), the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, and Canada, which have low population growth. Total scores of 75 or greater (extreme human suffering) occur in 27 countries (20 in Africa, 16 in Asia, and Haiti) with 8% of the world's population (432 million people). High human suffering scores range between 50 and 74 and include 56 countries (24 in Africa, 16 in Asia, 15 in the Western Hemisphere, and 1 in Oceania) with 3.5 billion people. The number of countries in this grouping increased from 44 countries with 58% of world population in 1987. Moderate suffering scores range from 25-49. Countries with moderate suffering number 34 countries (9 in Europe, 13 in Asia, 8 in the Western Hemisphere, and 2 in Oceania and 2 in Africa) with 11.8% of world population (636 million). Over the preceding 5-year period the number of countries increased from 29 countries with 10% of world population. Minimal human suffering occurs in 24 countries (17 in Europe, Israel and Japan in Asia; Canada, the US, and Barbados in the Western Hemisphere; and Australia and New Zealand in Oceania) with 14.8% of world population (797 million). Five years ago 27 countries with 21% of world population were in the minimal suffering group.