Top 10 Most Developed Economies of the World

The list for the top 10 most developed economies of the world has been compiled on the basis of the 2011 Human Development Report of the United Nations.

Top 10 Most Developed Economies by HDI for 2011:

The Human Development Index (HDI) rankings are based on a range of factors, including life expectancy, income, education level and living standards.

The list features prominent world economies such as Australia, USA, Canada and Germany, as well as some relatively unknown but strong economies such as Norway and Netherlands. Below is the list of the top ten most developed economies for the year 2011:

Country	Human Development Index (HDI ) Value
Norway	0.943
Australia	0.929
Netherlands	0.910
United States	0.910
New Zealand	0.908
Canada	0.908
Ireland	0.908
Liechtenstein	0.905
Germany	0.905
Sweden	0.904
As on : 20th Nov, 2011 Source : United Nations, Human Development Report 2011

Brief about the Economies:

• Norway: The strength of Norway’s economy can be gauged from the fact that it is providing the IMF a loan of 9.4 billion US dollars or 55 billion Norwegian kroner. The Prime Minister of Norway has stated that this will help the national economy and the job market.
• Australia: According to Wayne Swan, the acting Prime Minister of Australia, the national economy is in a stable position and this is proven by the fact that Moody’s has given it a Triple-A credit rating.
• Netherlands: In spite of having an HDI of 0.910 the Netherlands government opines that the economy could face a recession by the year end and it is looking at the option of budgetary reductions for ensuring fiscal sustenance.
• U.S.A.: US is ending the 2011 fiscal on a positive note after facing some serious economic troubles throughout the year. The holiday season has seen substantial increase in nationwide expenditure and the job market is functioning better. The housing industry is also on its way to recovery.
• New Zealand: The economy has been performing better than what had been anticipated by economic analysts in the last quarter. Much of this happened owing to the expenditure levels to conduct the Rugby World Cup but the central bank will wait for more authentic indicators before it decides to increase the interest rates.
• Canada: The statistics agency of Canada has stated that compared to the US, it has been able to improve the standards of living at a quicker rate. This North American country has performed especially better in areas like real gross national income per capita and real gross domestic product per capita.
• Ireland: Ireland has seen an economic reduction of 1.9% for the 3rd quarter of the present fiscal. This is a substantial drop and unexpected as well – it has also raised several questions about the austerity measures being implemented by the national government.
• Liechtenstein: he central administration of Liechtenstein, which is located between Austria and Switzerland, is making its best efforts to do away with the tag of being a tax haven. This decision has been taken after the global community exerted a lot of pressure on this European country.
• Germany: German economy is presently facing possibilities of a recession even as investor confidence has been affected by the ongoing Eurozone debt crisis. Business organizations are anxious about the country’s economic future and exports are on the decline as well.
• Sweden: According to analysts, Sweden’s economic growth will be lesser than the projected rate in 2012 fiscal. Riksbank, the central bank of this Scandinavian country, is expected to reduce its interest rates after there has been some deduction in the inflation.