A person having a drink along the Liffey in Dublin, Ireland's capital city. Getty Images
Ireland has been ranked 12th in the world in the 2024 Social Progress Index, which "measures how well countries and communities convert their resources into social and environmental outcomes that impact people's lives every day."
Ireland’s 2024 ranking on the Social Progress Index was its highest placement since the rankings began in 2011; Ireland has consistently moved upward in the rankings.
Ireland landed in 12th place in this year’s index of 170 countries, right between Austria (11th) and Belgium (13th).
Ireland beat out Canada (15th), the United Kingdom (21st), and the United States (29th) in this year's index.
However, while Ireland achieved its highest ranking to date, its overall score dropped from 86.87 in 2022 to 86.57 in 2023.
Drilling down into its 2024 ranking, Ireland ranked 32nd in Basic Needs, 18th in Foundations of Wellbeing, and 10th in Opportunity.
Notably, Ireland was ranked in the number one spot for access to electricity, usage of clean fuels and technology for cooking, gender parity for secondary attainment in education, and mobile telephone subscriptions.
The 2024 Social Progress Index lists Singapore, Qatar, Luxembourg, United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, Norway, United States, Denmark, Netherlands, Austria, Iceland, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, and Bahrain as Ireland’s “peers.”
Ireland's 2024 Social Progress Index Scorecard.
The 2024 Social Progress Index was published on January 11 by Social Progress Imperative, a US-based non-profit.
While Ireland ranked favorably in the 2024 Social Progress Index, the index showed that overall, for the first time, "the world has declined overall in social progress.
"In total, 61 countries saw a significant decline in their social progress in 2023 and 77 more stagnated. Only 32 countries saw any real progress.
"Today, four out of five people in the world live in a country where social progress is stagnating or declining."
The index further showed that for the first time, the 27 countries that make up the European Union, of which Ireland is a member, collectively overtook the United States in social progress. However, this is largely due to the US backslide as opposed to the EU making great strides.