These Are The 20 Healthiest Countries In The World

Minimal stress, moderate and healthy eating, incidental exercise, family, purpose, and strong social networks – these are the secrets to a longer life, according to researchers, and one country in Europe does them better than anywhere else.

The Bloomberg Global Health Index evaluated 163 nations on a number of variables including life expectancy, causes of death, health risks like high blood pressure and tobacco use, and environmental factors to rank the healthiest countries in the world.

Coming in at number one with a health grade of 93.11 out of 100 is Italy, where babies born today can expect to live well into their 80s. Bloomberg theorises that the country’s healthy Mediterranean diet may be the key to its longevity, as well as its “excess of doctors.”

Coming in second place with an average lifespan of 81 years is Iceland, which also ranked highly in an index of 2017’s happiest countries. Switzerland, Singapore, and Australia round out the top five for this year’s Bloomberg Global Health Index.

Meanwhile, things aren’t looking so rosy for Slovakia, Barbados, Oman, Panama, and Albania, who found themselves at the bottom of the list of the top 50 healthiest countries in 2017. The United States is lost somewhere in the middle, coming in at 34th place between Costa Rica and Croatia.

If wellness travel is on your to-do list for 2017, you’ll find the top 20 healthiest destinations above and top 50 here.