India ranked 45th in the internationally respected 2009 Legatum Prosperity Index – which embraces social and political data to provide a wider measure of national success. The purpose of the Prosperity Index is to encourage policymakers, scholars, the media, and the interested public to take a holistic view of prosperity and understand how it is created. Holistic prosperity extends beyond just material wealth, and includes factors such as social capital, health, opportunity, security, effective governance, human rights and liberties, and overall quality of life. Finland tops the index which uses nine separate submeasures across 104 countries. Northern Europe, Canada and Australia figure among the top 10. The United States, with the highest GDP in the world clocks in at Number Nine.
Among the other BRIC countries with which India is often compared, Brazil is slightly ahead at #41, Russia ranks #69 and China is Number brings up the rear at #75.
