What are the countries with the worst quality of life in the World? There have been many articles written on the good things in the world, but there is not much information or analysis about the countries with the worst quality of life in the World. Finding this information is a bit tedious as many parameters relevant to Quality of Life can not be quantified. The job of researchers, analysts and individuals alike would be made easy, if everything in this world can be quantified. But there are many facets of life that can never be quantified or to put it effectively, these factors can be expressed in a better way if they are subjected to qualitative analysis. In order to understand the overall health of a nation, it is imperative to look beyond the economic indicators which are primarily expressed in currency denominations. This assessment, which takes into account various factors commonly grouped as Quality of Life (QoL) parameters, indicates the overall well-being of an individual and the communities. As a note of caution, this should not be confused with the Standard of Living which primarily is the measure of availability of certain goods and services to the citizens.
Quality of life has been defined by many scholars in various ways. However the underlining concept of QoL is the subjective and objective parameters and their interplay that measure the well-being of individuals and the societies, in general. These are the measures which try to understand the gap between the needs of the citizens and fulfillment of the same. Furthermore, various studies have listed various parameters which form as the framework to understand QoL. One more thing to understand while assessing the quality of life is that, it measures not just the individual parameter in isolation, it also takes into account the interaction amongst these parameters.
This article tries to rank 11 countries with the worst quality of life in the World based on parameters as listed out in the following paragraphs. If you are curious about knowing the other end of the spectrum you should read this article on the ten countries with the highest quality of life index. For the purpose of this article the countries are ranked on the basis of the following parameters. Parameters like murder rates adversely affect the quality of life of a nation; however these variables have not been included.
– Life Expectancy
– Access to Primary Education
– Liveability
– Healthcare System
– Living Environment
– Governance
In this ranking, more weighting is given to parameters like living environment and the healthcare system which in turn have impact on other parameters like livability and life expectancy. Scores are given to each parameter and final ranking is based on the weights given to each parameter. Based on our calculations here are the 11 countries with the worst quality of life in the World:
11. Sierra Leone
| HDI Rank 2014 | 183 |
| Life Expectancy- in Years (2015) | 46 |
| Mo Ibrahim Index 2015 Governance* | 51.1 |
It is located in West Africa. Mining has been the backbone of its economy. The country gained independence in 1961; however corruption and financial mismanagement resulted in the country engaged in a civil war. This country has very low life expectancy and was adversely affected last year by the Ebola virus breakout. The country also suffers due to degraded and inadequate infrastructure.
10. Sudan
| HDI Rank 2014 | 166 |
| Life Expectancy- in Years (2015) | 62 |
| % of Children enrolled in primary School | 45 |
| WHO ranking Healthcare Systems | 134 |
| Living Environment ND Gain Index 2013 | 179 |
The first among the eleven countries with the worst quality of life which gained independence in 2011 is situated in north-eastern Africa. This country was ranked as the highest on the UN’s Fragile State Index. The civil war in the country which began along with the independence raged on till 2014, have claimed more than 100,000 lives and even more people have been displaced.
9. Burundi
| HDI Rank 2014 | 180 |
| Life Expectancy- in Years (2015) | 56 |
| % of Children enrolled in primary School | 44 |
| WHO ranking Healthcare Systems | 143 |
| Living Environment ND Gain Index 2013 | 175 |
| Mo Ibrahim Index 2015 Governance* | 45.3 |
The country ranks very low on the living environmental conditions. Just like most of the African nations, Burundi also is rich in natural resources; however deforestation is a major concern. More than half of its population lives below the poverty line. The main reasons for poor quality of life have been ethnic genocides and poor governance. Burundi is ranked 180th in the HDI among the 187 countries surveyed by UNDP in 2014.
8. Myanmar
| HDI Rank 2014 | 150 |
| Life Expectancy- in Years (2015) | 63 |
| % of Children enrolled in primary School | 58 |
| WHO ranking Healthcare Systems | 190 |
| Living Environment ND Gain Index 2013 | 166 |
The low Human Development Index of 0.524 puts this country at 150th out of 187 countries surveyed by UNDP in Human Development Report 2014. Moreover, this country ranks as one of the two lowest countries in terms of healthcare system. Even though this country is rich in natural resources, this also has world’s largest disparity in incomes due to control of the economy by certain faction of the supporters of the military government.
7. Niger
| HDI Rank 2014 | 187 |
| Life Expectancy- in Years (2015) | 59 |
| % of Children enrolled in primary School | 21 |
| WHO ranking Healthcare Systems | 170 |
| Living Environment ND Gain Index 2013 | 165 |
| Mo Ibrahim Index 2015 Governance* | 49.4 |
Since 1980, additional 20% of the Niger’s population have gone below the poverty line, making more than half of country’s population poor. This country was ranked last on the HDI prepared by UNDP. The country ranks lowest among liveability and access to primary education. Furthermore, Niger also faces problems of deteriorating living environment. Apart from these, poor infrastructural facilities give rise to additional problems like water scarcity and polluted water.
6. Somalia
| HDI Rank 2014 | |
| Life Expectancy- in Years (2015) | 53 |
| % of Children enrolled in primary School | 42 |
| WHO ranking Healthcare Systems | 179 |
| Mo Ibrahim Index 2015 Governance* | 8.6 |
The list on the 11 Countries with the Worst Quality of Life in the World might have been incomplete without Somalia. The name Somalia has become infamous due to a civil war that started way back in 1991 and the ocean piracy having its origins in this country. Although currently efforts are underway to bring stability to this country, Somalia has topped Fragile State Index for five straight years. The country was also affected by one of the worst draughts in past few years and the rate of displacement of population is one of the highest in the World.
5. Angola
| HDI Rank 2014 | 149 |
| Life Expectancy- in Years (2015) | 51 |
| % of Children enrolled in primary School | 27 |
| WHO ranking Healthcare Systems | 181 |
| Living Environment ND Gain Index 2013 | 158 |
| Mo Ibrahim Index 2015 Governance* | 40.9 |
It’s situated in southern part of Africa with neighboring countries of Namibia, Congo and Zambia. This country has the life expectancy of only 51 years and ranks as the worst in the world today. Almost 55% of the population lives below the poverty line. Corruption, financial instability and poor governance are some other factors that make this country highly unbelievable.
4. Eritrea
| HDI Rank 2014 | 182 |
| Life Expectancy- in Years (2015) | 63 |
| % of Children enrolled in primary School | 40 |
| WHO ranking Healthcare Systems | 158 |
| Living Environment ND Gain Index 2013 | 180 |
| Mo Ibrahim Index 2015 Governance* | 29.8 |
Again, one more nation which is ranked as one of the poorest in the World, faces large population fleeing even though this country does not have any ongoing civil war crisis. The governance has been poor and is concentrated at a single point. The living environment is poor as also liveability conditions. Exploitation of the citizens is high and most of the population is subjected to decade long military service. It is estimated that around 400,000 people fled the country in 2014. According to a recent report by United Nations Human Rights Council, the government is accused of Eritrea’s government of extrajudicial executions, torture, indefinitely prolonged national service and forced labour, and indicated that sexual harassment, rape and sexual servitude by state officials.
3. Chad
| HDI Rank 2014 | 184 |
| Life Expectancy- in Years (2015) | 51 |
| % of Children enrolled in primary School | 20 |
| WHO ranking Healthcare Systems | 178 |
| Living Environment ND Gain Index 2013 | 178 |
| Mo Ibrahim Index 2015 Governance* | 32.3 |
On the Corruption Perception Index prepared by Transparency International, Chad ranks among the bottom 20, making it one of the most corrupt countries in the World. In addition, it is ranked 184th on the HDI by UNDP. This country ranks lowest on the living environmental conditions. The country has half of its area under desert and also faces infrastructural inadequacy. Much of the rural population is dependent on climatic conditions and has to depend on the inadequate infrastructure facilities for livelihood. A high mass of the population is malnourished.
2. Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
| HDI Rank 2014 | 186 |
| Life Expectancy- in Years (2015) | 52 |
| % of Children enrolled in primary School | 33 |
| WHO ranking Healthcare Systems | 188 |
| Living Environment ND Gain Index 2013 | 177 |
| Mo Ibrahim Index 2015 Governance* | 34.1 |
Three things summaries the second worst country by quality of life which are rampant corruption, political instability and total lack of infrastructure. Ranked 186th on UNDP’s HDI, this country has suffered many coups in the past and the civil war which started in 1997 is still going on. Out of 6 parameters considered under this article, DR Congo ranks in the lower half in 5 of them, with governance and livability as the worst of its problems.
1. Central African Republic (CAR)
| HDI Rank 2014 | 185 |
| Life Expectancy- in Years (2015) | 51 |
| % of Children enrolled in primary School | 69 |
| WHO ranking Healthcare Systems | 189 |
| Living Environment ND Gain Index 2013 | 176 |
| Mo Ibrahim Index 2015 Governance* | 24.8 |
Despite being rich in natural resources like uranium, petroleum products, this country tops this list of eleven countries with the worst quality of life and is considered among the world’ 10 poorest countries. Also it is ranked 185th on UNDP’s Human Development Index. Political instability caused by violence has attributed to the failed state of the nation. Ethnic genocide also is a major problem facing this country. The country also suffers because of very poor state of transportation network with few paved roads. The country has very low ranking on life expectancy, has poor healthcare facilities. It also ranks among the lowest in terms of liveability. More than 130,000 citizens were HIV positive in 2012 accounting for 4.7% of the total population. Poaching has degraded the wildlife in the country which has further worsened by the rapid deforestation.
