作为全球最成功的投资商，巴菲特曾说，他的成功归功于在正确的时间（1930年）出生在正确的国家（美国）。那么对于2013年降临世界的婴儿来说，哪个国家才是最佳入口呢？经济学人智库（Economist Intelligence Unit）对2013年全球最佳出生地进行了评估，看哪个国家能够为人们健康、安全、幸福的生活提供最多的保障。结果显示，瑞士当选成为2013年投胎首选地。
经济学人智库的生活质量指数考虑了11个统计学意义上的指标。既有固定的地理因素，也有会随时间而变化的人口、社会、文化特性等因素，还有一些因素会受到 国家政策和世界经济状况的影响。同时，犯罪情况、对公共机构的信任度和家庭生活健康程度也是纳入成为影响生活质量的指标。
瑞士、澳大利亚、挪威夺得了前三位。位居榜单前十名的大多是较小的经济实体。其中有一半是欧洲国家，但来自欧元区的只有一个。北欧国家在榜单中大放异彩， 而德国、法国、英国等欧洲最大的几个经济体均表现不佳。美国新出生的婴儿将由于上世纪的婴儿潮而承担巨额债务，因此在榜单中仅名列第16位。“金砖四国” （巴西，俄罗斯，印度和中国）虽然经济活力无限，但都得分平平。在榜单列出的80个国家中，尼日利亚位居最后：它成为2013年婴儿进入世界最糟糕的入 口。
Best countries to be born in 2013
Friday, Nov 23, 2012， AsiaOne
SINGAPORE - Singapore has been ranked among the top ten places to enter the world.
The city state is listed at sixth position in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Where-to-be-born index, 2013.
The full list appears in the article, 'The lottery of life' by Laza Kekic, Director for Country Forecasting at the Economist Intelligence Unit, and is published in The World in 2013, the latest edition in The Economist's annual series on the year ahead.
Small economies dominate the top ten, with Hong Kong the only other Asian economy to appear at number 10 in the list.
Switzerland takes top spot, followed by Australia at No.2 and Norway at No. 3. The United States came in at No.16 while the United Kingdom came in at No. 27.
The Netherlands came in at No. 8 and is the only country from the Euro zone.
Susan Evans, an analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit said both Hong Kong and Singapore are well-known for their wealth, stability and relatively low levels of corruption.
"One determining factor of future life satisfaction for their residents, which is less easy to predict, will be the trajectory of civic freedoms," she said.
Germany and France came in at No.16 and No. 26 respectively, but the BRIC countries, such as Brazil (37th), Russia (72nd), India (66th) and China (49th) did not score impressively despite their economic dynamism.
Nigeria came in last at No. 80. it is the worst place to enter the world in 2013.
The list takes into factors such as geography, demography, social and cultural characteristics, as well as economic factors to determine the quality of life across countries.
Specific indicators include GDP per head, life expectancy at birth, quality of family life, political freedom, job security, climate, personal security, community life, governance and gender equality.
paullim@sph.com.sg
