Korea ranked 12th in UNDPs quality of life

South Korea ranked 12th among 169 nations this year in terms of "quality of life," up 14 notches from the past four years, according to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) report released on Thursday.

The Human Development Report 2010 showed South Korea's ranking as having jumped to the 12th spot from its previous annual standing of 26th from 2006-2009.

The Human Development Index (HDI) evaluates nations according to their citizens' quality of life rather than strictly by a nation's traditional economic figures. The criteria for calculating rankings include life expectancy, level of education and standard of living.

Analysts say South Korea's rise can be attributed to European countries' sharp fall in the rankings following the global financial meltdown and eurozone debt fear that hit such countries as France, Finland, Italy, Iceland and Denmark.

For example, Iceland's ranking plunged to 17th this year from third place last year.

The UNDP report took note of countries that have rapidly improved the HDI over the last 40 years. South Korea was ranked 8th among the top 10 nations in that category, along with Oman, China, Nepal, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Laos, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.

Norway and Australia again ranked first and second, respectively, this year. The others above South Korea are New Zealand, the United States, Ireland, Lichtenstein, the Netherlands, Canada, Swedne, Germany and Japan in that order.

Zimbabwe came in last.