Britain 17th in world's quality of life index - Telegraph
According to a study that compares the economies of 183 countries, Britain does not even make the top 40 in the list of hospital beds per 1,000 people.
Norway tops the "human development" - or quality of life - index, followed by Iceland and Australia.
Things are even worse for British children, who come 21st in the "child well-being" index, which is headed by Holland.
However, the news is not all bleak. The country is world leader for attracting investment from foreign countries and the figure for carbon emissions per person is less than half that of America.
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Pocket World in Figures 2008, published by The Economist, takes an annual look at 200 economic markers as diverse as contraception use, children's well-being and murders and executions.
There are some surprises. Despite British house prices rocketing 196 per cent between 1997 and 2006, the inflation rate lags behind South Africa (351 per cent) and Ireland (253 per cent).
Looking at property price rises year on year, the UK is ninth in the table. London, however, still has the highest office rents of any city on the planet. British music lovers spend more per head on recordings and downloads than anyone else - about £18 per year, although this may be because they are more expensive than elsewhere.
Britons are also the sixth most regular cinema-goers.
The country also has more mobile phones than people - averaging 109.8 handsets for every 100 of the population.
Despite 98.3 televisions for every 100 households, the UK is only joint 13th in a table where Belgium is top. It also has the third highest ownership of CD players and 12th highest for computers.
With 78.7 vehicles for every kilometre of road, Britain has the 15th most crowded roads.
Stephen Brough, the editor of the book, said: "The -surprising finds this year are that there are two countries where house prices have gone up by more than us over the past decade; and that we spend the most per head on music.
"In other categories we are not as badly off as people think. Despite concerns over binge drinking, we are not, per head, among the world's biggest beer-drinking nations."
Life expectancy in the UK is predicted to be 79.4 years per person up to 2010 but this is only the 22nd highest in the world, alongside Germany, Malta and Belgium. Andorra's 83.5 is highest.
British women are second only to the Chinese in the use of modern methods of contraception. The country is absent from the top 40 index of hospital beds per 1,000 people - although Slovakia, Cuba and Belarus all make the list.
Britain 17th in world's quality of life index, Australia 3rd
