What the least socially progressive countries all have in common.
A girl looks on among Afghan women lining up to receive relief assistance, during the holy month of Ramadan in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
But certain countries are lagging well behind the average.
This year’s ranking, the fourth annual list put out by SPI, finds Yemen, Guinea, Niger, Angola, Chad, Afghanistan, and Central African Republic all fall in the lowest-performing category, "Very Low Social Progress."
In SPI’s ranking, the countries fall toward the bottom in basic criteria, such as water and sanitation, medical care, personal safety, and personal freedom and choice.
A country’s place in the ranking isn’t determined just by its income level.
The US and France place 18th and 19th, respectively, but both countries are far wealthier than a number of countries further up in the list, such as Austria and New Zealand.
Likewise, Costa Rica’s GDP is low, but Green says its scores in health and wellness, mobile communications, and personal freedom allow it to sit just 10 spots shy of the US, in 28th.
Green says countries need to address basic human needs first, such as access to healthcare and clean drinking water.
Increasing mobile communications has allowed countries like Myanmar to make a big jump forward, Green said.