And The Most Prosperous Country In The World Is…? [Video]

The most prosperous country in the world is measured by many things, including the over-all health of their economy and how entrepreneurship is encouraged by the government.

So do you think the United States is on top?

It's official – once again, Norway has been ranked the world's most prosperous nation, according to the Legatum Institute's 2014 Prosperity Index. The Nordic nation retained its number one spot from last year. How’d they get it?

The rankings are based on eight variables of a country's prosperity performance:

Economy
Entrepreneurship
Governance
Education
Personal freedom
Health
Security
Social capital

Norway performed best on Social Capital and worst (7th) on Entrepreneurship and Opportunity. The Nordic nation retained its number one spot from last year, as the top-ranking most prosperous country. Switzerland is at number two, and New Zealand moved to third place, up two spots from 2013, while Russia slipped to Europe's worst performing country in 68th place.

The study, now in its eighth year, offers a unique insight into how prosperity is forming and changing across the world. The Index examines 142 countries, representing more than 96% of the world’s population and 99% of global GDP.

The Top 20 Prosperity Index
Norway
Switzerland
New Zealand
Denmark
Canada
Sweden
Australia
Finland
Netherlands
United States
Iceland
Ireland
United Kingdom
Germany
Austria
Luxembourg
Belgium
Singapore
Japan
Hong Kong