The United Nations chose Norway as the number-one country in the 2013 Human Development Index. The index, produced by the United Nations Development Programme, compares countries using three broad dimensions: health, education and living standards.
Norway's top position reflected its very high life expectancy, strong educational attainment and high gross national income per person. The 2013 report used data from earlier years, so the ranking was not a real-time measurement of conditions in 2013. Norway recorded an HDI value of 0.955 in that report, placing it ahead of Australia and the United States.
The HDI is broader than an economic ranking based only on gross domestic product. It is also not a complete measure of happiness, equality, political freedom or environmental quality. Norway's result illustrates why wealthy countries with strong public services often perform well, while later versions of the index may revise historical values as statistical data and methods change.