Canada is 5th Most Prosperous Country in the World

Wave those maple leaf flags in pride: Canada has ranked 5th for overall prosperity in the world.

The 2014 Legatum Prosperity Index has come out, ranking 142 countries on eight different pillars of prosperity: economy, entrepreneurship and opportunity, governance, education, health, safety and security, personal freedom, and social capital. Canada was in the top ten for six of these pillars, getting second place for education, fourth in social capital, and fifth in personal freedom and economy,

The top 10 most prosperous countries, according to the Prosperity Index. (Photo Credit: Legatum Prosperity Index)

We missed the top ten in only two categories, with a close 11th place in health and a rather low 17th place for entrepreneurship and opportunity.

Fifth place out of 142 countries is impressive, but Canada actually dropped this year compared to 2013's third place overall. Throughout 2009 and 2012, Canada ranked sixth and seventh.

One interesting note was the differences between males and females in their feelings of safety. According to the Prosperity Index, the highest differences between male and female perceptions of crime are actually in high-income, prosperous countries. In Canada, 91 per cent of men felt safe walking at night, while only 62 per cent of women did. This 29 percentage point gap is much higher than the global average of 13.

Norway has been consistently ranked the most prosperous country in the world since 2009.