The Human Development Report (HDR) calculates the well-being of people in 182 countries taking into account residents' life expectancy, literacy, school enrolment and GDP per capita.

People living in countries such as New Zealand can expect to be better educated, to live longer and to earn more, the report said.

New Zealand is just ahead of the United Kingdom and Germany on the list.

Human Development Index 2009 - Top 20 rankings

1. Norway
2. Australia
3. Iceland
4. Canada
5. Ireland
6. Netherlands
7. Sweden
8. France
9. Switzerland
10. Japan
11. Luxembourg
12. Finland
13. United States
14. Austria
15. Spain
16. Denmark
17. Belgium
18. Italy
19. Liechtenstein
20. New Zealand