Highest-ranked countries in the 2021 Human Development Index outside of Europe

[Lioncourt]

Well yes and no. Wales may look idyllic, relaxed and pretty in many places - hence why many people especially Londoners do move here to retire - but at the end of the day, as far as shops, restaurants, theatres, cinemas, schools, hospitals, public transport and doubtless a great deal of other things are concerned, London is far superior, and I have no problem admitting as much even as someone who happily lives in South Wales. Besides, many towns and villages in the Valleys and the North Wales coast are at least equally shitty as the worst inner-city areas of London, even without anything like the levels of ethnic diversity of the latter.

As for Northern Ireland, I visited it five years ago, and while some of it is quite nice and thriving, it still has not fully recovered from its violent sectarian past, and many areas of West Belfast in particular are extraordinarily run-down, full of murals glorifying both Unionist and Republican terrorists, and they still have the Orwellian-named "peace walls".



But for reasons that mostly have little to do with mass immigration, right?

Actually Sofia is like 98% Bulgarian ethnically, better than vast majority of the country in that regard. But it is overcrowded and traffic jams are really a problem, big enough that you'd have very little free time if you don't work from home. Unfortunately, Plovdiv (where I live) is becoming the same slowly but steadily, while the rest of the country (besides the Black sea coast) is heavily depopulated.

[Tooting Carmen]

Actually Sofia is like 98% Bulgarian ethnically, better than vast majority of the country in that regard. But it is overcrowded and traffic jams are really a problem, big enough that you'd have very little free time if you don't work from home. Unfortunately, Plovdiv (where I live) is becoming the same slowly but steadily, while the rest of the country (besides the Black sea coast) is heavily depopulated.

Is that due to the rural nature of much of the economy, mass migration to Western Europe or low birth rates?

[Lioncourt]

Is that due to the rural nature of much of the economy, mass migration to Western Europe or low birth rates?

It's immigration to the west, migration to Sofia/Plovdiv/Varna/Burgas, low birth rates and high death rates (migration and immigration always make the demographic picture worse, as it's usually young people who migrate).

[Tooting Carmen]

It's immigration to the west, migration to Sofia/Plovdiv/Varna/Burgas, low birth rates and high death rates (migration and immigration always make the demographic picture worse, as it's usually young people who migrate).

Even here in the UK we have that dynamic to an extent: younger people generally move from Wales/Scotland/Northern England to the South to work and study, while many Southern English people move particularly to Wales, the Yorkshire Dales, the Lake District and some parts of Scotland to retire.

[Lioncourt]

Even here in the UK we have that dynamic to an extent: younger people generally move from Wales/Scotland/Northern England to the South to work and study, while many Southern English people move particularly to Wales, the Yorkshire Dales, the Lake District and some parts of Scotland to retire.

Dynamic here is like - Plovdiv generally attracts more working class people from Southern Bulgaria, Varna as a whole from Northern Bulgaria, while more educated (but also some from the working class) from the whole country go to Sofia, including many from Plovdiv and Varna.

[Tooting Carmen]

Interestingly, thirteen of the countries in the list are in Asia, five are in the Americas and two are in Oceania.

[Tooting Carmen]

Updated list:

/1/(4) Hong Kong 0.956
/2/(9) Singapore 0.949
/3/(10) Australia 0.946
/4/(16) New Zealand 0.939
/5/(17) United Arab Emirates 0.937
/6/(18) Canada 0.935
/7/(19) South Korea 0.929
/8/(20) United States 0.927
/9/(24) Japan 0.920
/10/(25) Israel 0.915
/11/(34) Bahrain 0.888
/12/(40) Qatar/Saudi Arabia 0.875
/14/(44) Chile 0.860
/15/(48) Argentina 0.849
/16/(49) Kuwait 0.847
/17/(51) St Kitts and Nevis 0.838
/18/(52) Uruguay 0.830
/19/(54) Antigua and Barbuda 0.826
/20/(55) Brunei 0.823

N.B. Turkey is ranked 45th globally and scores 0.855.

[Dandelion]

USA not no. 1. Weird.

[Tooting Carmen]

USA not no. 1. Weird.

Well it is far more populous and varied than any other country on this list - it has some wealthier states and some poorer ones.

[renaissance12]

?? This is Hong Kong 2023.. 4 th place ??????????????????????????











And a few years ago...