If standard of living is your major objective, quality of life almost never improves, but if
quality of life is your number one
objective, your standard of living almost always improves. Zig Zagler
Human Development Index 10 Highest-Ranked Countries
(Source: Human Development Report 2002, United
Nations Development Programme)
Norway
Sweden
Canada
Belgium
Australia
United States
Iceland
Netherlands
Japan
Finland
HDI: The Human Development Index (HDI) offers a global
perspective on the question of how well people are living. Devised by the
United Nations in the 1990's, the HDI is a composite of three different
indicators:
(1) life
expectancy at birth,
(2)
education as measured by a combination of school enrollment and adult literacy,
and
(3)
standard of living as measured by a variation on GDP per capita that adjusts
for price differences between countries (purchasing power parity in U.S.
dollars).
The United
Nations Human Development Report 2002 (http://www.undp.org/ hdro) lists HDI
rankings for 173 countries.
It notes
some alarming facts: • Nearly one billion of the world’s people don’t have access to improved water sources; 2.4 billion
lack access to basic sanitation. • Eleven million children under the age of
five die each year from preventable causes. That’s equivalent to more than
30,000 deaths a day. • Approximately 1.2 billion people live on less than $1 a
day; 2.8 billion live on less than $2 a day. But there were also some
encouraging trends: • A child born in 2002 could expect to live eight years
longer than one born in the early 1970s. • The share of rural families with
access to safe water has grown more than fivefold since the early 1970s. •
Between 1975 and 1998, average incomes in developing countries nearly doubled
in real terms, from $1,300 to $2,500.
A measure of standard of living: The standard of living for a nation is sometimes measured by dividing its private consumption expenditure by its population. This expenditure represents the value of goods and services bought by individuals in a nation during a given period of time. This table lists per capita private consumption expenditures in U.S. dollars for 20 selected countries with measurable economies.
Yet there is a generally accepted measure for standard of living: average real gross domestic product (GDP) per
capita. Let's break it down piece by piece: GDPmeasures annual
economic output — the total value of new goods and services produced within a
country's borders.
For most
of us, standard of living is a know-it-when-I-see-it concept. We might not be
able to express it in precise terms, but we think we know it when we see it.
Ask us to define it, and we’ll reel off a list of things we associate with
living well: a nice car, a pleasant place to live, clothes, furniture,
appliances, food, vacations, maybe even education. Ask us to measure it, and
we’ll probably look at whether or not we’re “doing better” than our parents.
Yet there is a generally accepted measure for standard of living: average real
gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. Let’s break it down piece by piece:
(a) GDP measures annual economic output — the total value of new goods and services
produced within a country’s borders.
(b) Real GDP is the inflation-adjusted
value.
(c) Average GDP per capita tells us how big each person’s share of GDP
would be if we were to divide the total into equal portions.
The standard of living measures our material welfare. The
baseline measure is real national output per head of population or real GDP per capita or gross national
income per capita…
Standard of living usually refers to the economic level achieved by an
individual, family, or nation. It may be measured by the value of the goods and
services produced or used by the individual, family, or nation in a given
period of time. Another interpretation of standard of living is based on the
goals that people set for themselves as consumers. That is, when people have
enough material things for comfort and happiness, they have achieved their
standard of living.
How standard of living is measured. There
are several major ways of measuring standard of living. All present problems of
interpretation. They do not always provide enough information or the right
information.
A nation's living standard may be
estimated by determining the proportion of income that "average"
citizens spend on certain basic necessities. One basis for comparison is the
amount spent for food. According to this measure, the greater the proportion of
income spent on food by individuals in a nation, the lower the nation's living
standard. But this measure provides only basic information and does not reveal
anything about actual levels of consumption. Also, economists cannot easily
determine the proportion of individual incomes spent on food and nonfood
items.
Another commonly used measure of the
standard of living for a nation is obtained by dividing a
figure called the private consumption expenditure by the population of
the nation. The private consumption expenditure, also called the personal
consumption expenditure, represents the value of goods and services bought
by individuals in the nation over a period of time. But this measure also has
drawbacks.
The measure presents a figure for the
average citizen of the nation. But such an average does not reveal the
distribution of the standard of living in the nation. For example, two nations
whose per capita (per person) consumption expenditures are valued, in
U.S. dollars, at $1,000 each year may differ widely. In one nation, all the
individuals may spend about $1,000 each. In the other nation, a few rich
individuals may spend much more than $1,000 each and many poor individuals may
spend much less than this. The second country has a poorer standard of living
for most people, but the measure does not reflect it.
Another drawback to the private consumption
measure is that it is not reliable for making international comparisons.
There are several reasons for this problem. For one, the official exchange rate
with the U.S. dollar may not accurately reflect the purchasing power of the
local currency. Thus, $100 may actually buy very different amounts of goods in
different nations. Second, the availability of goods and services differs
widely in different nations, a variation that directly affects the ability of the
citizens to attain their goals as consumers. Third, nations differ in their
ideas concerning consumption. The basic needs of individuals include food,
clothing, and shelter. However, there are a number of needs that are regarded
as basic in some countries and as unimportant in others. Tastes and preferences
also differ.
In addition, the private consumption
expenditure does not account for some of the social costs associated with
citizenship in an industrial society. Certain industrial nations—including
Canada, Japan, the United States, and many countries of western Europe—are said
to have the world's highest standard of living. But they also have pollution
and overcrowding, which may make life unpleasant in parts of these nations.
Economists also measure standard of living
in several other ways. They may divide the amount that a nation produces each
year by the number of its population. They also may calculate the average personal
income earned by people in a country. This average income, less the amount paid
in taxes, shows how much people have to spend or save. It is often adjusted to
take changing prices into account. However, these measures of standard of
living have some problems and limitations.
Area differences. Standards of living vary widely across the world. The
world supports more than 5 billion people. At the U.S. standard of
consumption, the world produces enough grain for only about half the total
population. By the Chinese standard, however, there is enough grain for about 7
billion people. Western Europe's level of grain consumption falls roughly
halfway between those of the United States and China.
In fact, people in poor countries eat more
grain than those in wealthy countries, where much grain is used as feed for
animals.
Total food supplies also differ greatly
among countries. Some of these differences have been studied by the Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO), a specialized agency of the United Nations.
For example, FAO estimated that the United States had enough food during the
late 1980's to provide each person in the country with 139 per cent of the
total calories necessary every day. China had 117 per cent of the necessary
total. Canada's food supply was 114 per cent of its needs, but India had only
93 per cent. Bangladesh had 89 per cent of the food required for its people,
while in Mozambique there was only 71 per cent of the estimated needed minimum. More goods per person are consumed in industrial
countries than in developing nations. In general, people in industrial nations
enjoy better clothing and housing, greater educational opportunities, and more
healthy food than people in chiefly agricultural countries. Related articles:
Consumption, Income, National income, Cost of living, Industrial Revolution, Technology,
Gross domestic product, Inflation, Wages and hours, and The American Standard of Living.
Search Results
Standard of living in Malaysia
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Standard of living in Malaysia
Malaysia is a Southeast Asian country
occupying parts of the Malay Peninsula and the island of Borneo. It's known for
its beaches, rainforests and mix of Malay, Chinese, Indian and European
cultural influences. The capital, Kuala Lumpur, is home to colonial buildings, busy
shopping districts such as Bukit Bintang and skyscrapers such as the iconic,
451m-tall Petronas Twin Towers...
Cost of living in Malaysia is 43.56% lower than in
United States (aggregate data for all cities, rent is not taken into account).
Rent in Malaysia is 70.73% lower ...
It depends on the area you're going
to live in. I'll give you the approximate cost of 2 major cities ... It is
really difficult to maintain cost when living in a place full of temptations. Total monthly cost of living in Petaling Jaya or Kuala
Lumpur :
List of prices in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) for food, housing, transportation,
going out, and more on Oct 2016. Compare the Cost of Living in Kuala Lumpur with any other
city in the world. ... Standard men's haircut in expat area of the city, RM36.
Are you moving to Malaysia? Do you know how much money you will
need there to maintain your current standard
of living? Find out what is the real
equivalent ...
Malaysians do not yet use the internet as the standard way to book their trips and
.... Employment opportunities are plenty and costs of living are relatively low.
The cost of living in Malaysia is relatively low
compared to neighbouring countries such as Singapore. The main discrepancy in
prices is evident when buying ...
The cost of living in Malaysia might seem low at first
glance and especially when compared to some other countries, but the living costs have been on the
rise ...
Malaysia is a rapidly developing country that combines excellent
infrastructure and high-quality health care options with a very low cost of living ...
By Michelle Brohier Back in March
2013, the 2012 Household Income Survey announced that the Malaysian households' monthly income
rose ...
Living in
Malaysia - ExpatGo
As a new expat living in Malaysia, it can be a little daunting figuring out the banking ... Royal Bank of Scotland, UOB, and Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia.
As a new expat living in Malaysia, it can be a little daunting figuring out the banking ... Royal Bank of Scotland, UOB, and Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia.
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