By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter

Norway was named as the best place in the world to live, while South Korea was 25 spots behind, according to an annual U.N. report Monday.

It is the fourth consecutive year that Korea finished 26th on the U.N. Development Program's (UNDP) human development index (HDI), a lower finish than other advanced Asia-Pacific nations such as Australia, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The report also showed that Koreans live shorter lives than most of the people from nations higher on the list, as the country ranked 25th among 182 states in life expectancy with an average of 79.2 years.

This was more than three years shorter than the average life span of the Japanese, who were reported to live to around 82.7 years.

Britain ranked 24th in life expectancy with an average of 79.3 years, while the United States trailed Korea with 79.1, according to the report.

The average North Korean lives for 67.1 years, the report said.

Norway retained its status as the most desirable country to live in, after losing the spot to Iceland in last year's report.

Australia came in second this year, pushing Iceland to third, while Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Switzerland and Japan rounded up the top-10.

The U.S. finished 13th on the list, down one spot from last year, while China finished 92nd.

A number of sub-Saharan African states, devastated by war and the HIV/AIDS epidemic, were named among the least attractive places to live.

Living standards were found to be the worst in Niger, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone, the report said.

The UNDP index was based on 2007 data on gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, education and life expectancy, and doesn't reflect the impact of the recent global economic crisis.

The disparity between developed and underdeveloped nations was evident.

A child born in Niger can expect to live to just over 50, while life expectancy in Zimbabwe was 43.4, nearly 40 years off the average of the Japanese. For every dollar a person earns in Niger, $85 is earned in Norway, according to the report.

"Despite significant improvements over time, progress has been uneven," the UNDP said in a statement.

"Many countries have experienced setbacks over recent decades, in the face of economic downturns, conflict-related crisis and the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and this was even before the impact of the global economic crisis was felt."

The UNDP report also revealed that gender inequality could be a concern for Korea.

Korea finished 98th out of 155 countries in the gender-related development index (GDI), with its GDI value found to be 98.8 percent of its HDI value. The GDI measures achievements using the same indicators as HDI, but captures the inequalities in achievement between women and men, the UNDP said.

Korea also ranked 61st out of 109 countries in gender empowerment measure (GEM). GEM reveals whether women take an active part in a country's economic and political life, tracking the share of seats in parliament held by women, and also the number of female legislators, senior officials and managers, and also professional and technical workers. Also taken into account is the gender disparity in earned income.

thkim@koreatimes.co.kr