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International
Comparison of Overall Quality of Life
(April 2, 2004)
The overall quality of life in Japan ranks 14th among 30
OECD countries |
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| The
Productivity Research Center of the JPC-SED created a quality
of life indicator based on the 2003 edition of World Development
Indicators compiled by the World Bank and compared quality
of life of thirty OECD countries. Japan was found to be almost
in the middle at 14th place (Fig. 1), and close in position
to Germany and Finland (Fig. 2). In Figure 2, the positions
of each country were plotted according to an analysis of major
components the quality of life indicator. The horizontal axis
indicates an increase in overall affluence from left to right,
and the vertical axis shows greater environmental strength
toward the top. Japan’s ranking among the thirty countries
is the same as that of its per capita GDP presented in the
“International Comparison of Labor Productivity”
announced by the JPC-SED in November. |
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| Fig.
1: Ranking According to the Quality of Life Indicator |
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| Fig.
2: Positioning of Each Country According to the Quality of
Life Indicator |
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The
quality of life indicator is mainly composed of the World
Bank’s World Development Indicators for which data of
all thirty OECD countries were available, but with respect
to the major indicators, it also contains some data with missing
figures. Specifically, it is composed of indicators related
to health (4th), environment (13th), labor economy (13th),
education (23rd), culture (8th), and macro economy (17th).
These indicators are formed by a number of sub-indicators
and represent the consolidation of the deviation values of
those sub-indicators. Assuming that GDP figures can be broken
down, sub-indicators expressed in different currencies were
converted to deviation values based on purchasing power parities
(PPP). Purchasing power parity can be regarded as a type of
(theoretical) conversion rate. However, in light of the fact
that the disparity between PPP and the exchange rate is greatest
in Japan among the thirty OECD countries (PPP-converted yen
value is much lower than the exchange rate), Japan’s
ranking 14th in terms of overall quality of life can be considered
an underestimation.
In terms of individual sub-indicators, Japan takes the lead
in terms of average life span, infant mortality rate, newspaper
circulation, and GDP deflator increase rate (lowest). However,
it is also one of the poorest countries in terms of per capita
international tourism revenue, economic growth, and accumulated
governmental debt. In regard to the unemployment rate, Japan
was the middle-ranking country among the thirty OECD countries
at 15th place. This is not too bad, considering the drastic
increase in Japan’s unemployment rate during the lost
ten-some years. Yet, Japan’s data for 1995 and on indicate
a strong correlation between crime rate and unemployment rate.
Incidentally, the unemployment rate in the Netherlands is
the lowest of the thirty OECD countries, owing in large part
to the highly touted “Dutch Model.” |
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| Table
1: List of indicators utilized in the international comparison
of overall quality of life |
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| Health
indicators |
Average
life span, number of doctors per 1,000 people of the
general population, number of hospital beds per 1,000
people of the general population, infant mortality rate,
death toll per 1,000 people of the general population,
per capita health expenditure, per capita public health
expenditure |
| Environmental
indicators |
Per
capita CO2 emission volume, energy productivity, per
capita international tourism revenue, per capita real
savings, per capita freshwater resources, per capita
arable land |
| Labor
economy indicators |
Unemployment
rate, worker remuneration per worker, GDP labor productivity,
number of scientists and engineers per one million people
of the general population, number of listed companies
per 100,000 people in the workforce |
| Education
indicators |
Higher
education advancement rate, per capita education expenditure,
per capita public education expenditure, number of collected
papers published in science and technology journals
per 100,000 people of the general population, ratio
of students to teachers in primary education, public
expenditure per student in higher education |
| Cultural
indicators |
Number
of automobiles per 1,000 people of the general population,
per capita electricity consumption, number of mobile
phones per 1,000 people of the general population, number
of personal computers per 1,000 people of the general
population, number of Internet users per 1,000 people
of the general population, number of daily newspapers
per 1,000 people of the general population, number of
high-tech products exported per capita, number of television
sets per 1,000 people of the general population, per
capita expenditure related to information and communications
technology |
| Macro
economy indicators |
GDP
deflator increase rate, economic growth, per capita
capital formation, per capita export value, per capita
import value, per capita international reserve, per
capita gross domestic savings, per capita research and
development expenditure, per capita final household
consumption expenditure, fiscal balance (to GDP ratio),
per capita accumulated governmental debt, per capita
governmental development assistance |
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