The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has shown publicly the 2009 statistics for the Human Development Index (HDI) considering 182 countries worldwide. Australia has gone up to the 2nd position in 2009, with 0.970 points, just 0.001 behind Norway. In 2008 Australia held the 4th place in the annual index.

If you are not familiarised with the HDI, it is composed of 3 dimensions: to live a long and healthy life (life expectancy), being educated (adult literacy and enrolment in education), and having a decent standard of living (purchasing power, income).

The current numbers show Australia as an excellent country to live and study, enjoying all the attributes it has to offer, including the quality of life, quality of the education, beautiful beaches and landscapes, pleasant weather and a very open and happy population.

In the last 5 years, Australia figured amongst the top 4 countries in the world, alternating positions with Norway, Canada and Iceland, year after year.
Other numbers released by the UNDP were:

- Australia is now the 11th country in the world in numbers of immigrants received (4,3 million), or the 18th country considering the percentage of immigrants within the population (21.3%).

Source: Human Development Report 2009 - United Nations