One of the great pleasures of travelling to new locations is meeting different people, and a new report has revealed which countries are the most sociable.
The findings came as part of the Legatum Prosperity Index, which publishes an annual report on global prosperity. The researchers ranked 149 countries out of 100 in various categories, and discovered that New Zealand was the most sociable country.
The ten most sociable countries ranked out of 100 were New Zealand (68.95), Australia (67.60), Canada (66.23), United States (65.45), Iceland (65.34), Norway (65.06), Denmark (64.49), Malta (63.77), Germany (63.21) and Ireland (63.09). The report suggested that the people living in these countries are the most free to pursue their ambitions and achieve their potential.
Of all the world’s nations, New Zealand was also found to be the most tolerant of immigrants, which is good news for anyone planning on spending extended time there. The countries topping the most sociable list also offered greater opportunity for their citizens to flourish through their education systems.
If you were in need of anything while visiting them, you'd be in luck, as people in these countries were found to look out for each other to a much greater extent than others. Volunteering and charitable donation rates were higher, friend and family networks were stronger, and the altruistic desire to help someone they did not know was more prevalent in these countries.
As well as being linked to higher economic growth and higher levels of subjective well-being, these elevated levels of social capital make these countries great places to visit.
To read the full report, visit the Legatum Property Index.