NZ No 5 on world prosperity list

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Country slips two places since 2009 scores but still manages to rate among the best

New Zealand has been rated the fifth most prosperous nation to live in, according to an international report.

Click here to see the report

The 2013 Legatum Prosperity Index ranks 142 nations on their "wealth and wellbeing" in eight categories, including health, education, safety and security, and economy.

New Zealand scored in the top 20 for all categories, coming out fifth overall, but slipped two places since the last Legatum Prosperity Index was published in 2009.

The report's publishers said one of the largest shifts between the two reports was in the safety and security category, where New Zealand dropped from eighth to 15th place. This was "due to increases in demographic pressures, human immigration and group grievances".

The Legatum Prosperity Index is published by the London-based Legatum Institute, which provides research on different economic and social issues around the world.

The institute's parent company was founded by Kiwi billionaire Christopher Chandler in 2006.