Brunei By Numbers
Life in Brunei: How it compares
Income
Brunei is an affluent country. At about US$15,000, its per capita income ranks 4th in Asia and 32nd globally, ahead of Spain, New Zealand and Greece. Adjusted for purchasing power, Brunei ranks 16th globally ahead of France, the UK and Italy.
Life Expectancy
A woman in Brunei can expect to live to 78.9 years old and a man to 74.2 years old - among the best 5 in Asia.
Purchasing Power
A strong currency - the Brunei Dollar is pegged to the Singapore Dollar - and depressed asset value gives Bruneians a relatively favourable purchasing power within the region. Money goes 42 percent further in Brunei than in Japan, 13 percent further than in Hong Kong and 12 percent further than in Singapore.
Spending on Health and Education
Brunei tops the Asian league table for health and education spending as a percentage of national income. In 1999, the equivalent of 13.5 percent of its GDP went toward funding its heavily subsidised public healthcare and education system.
Quality of Life
The United Nations' Human Development Index (HDI) ranks Brunei 32nd in the world for its quality of life - the highest among Islamic countries* - and 5th highest in Asia. The HDI is based on a combination of indicators including life expectancy, income levels, health and education.
Quality of Life: Gender Equality
The United Nations' Gender Related Development Index shows that Brunei ranks No. 1 among Islamic countries* in terms of equality for women, ahead of European countries such as Czech Republic and Hungary.
* Islamic country defined by membership of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC)
Car Ownership
Brunei has the 3rd highest per capita car ownership in the world after Lebanon and New Zealand. Car ownership per capita in Brunei is 20 percent higher than in the US, 50 percent higher than in the UK and 4 times that of Malaysia. In 2003, there were 239,600 vehicles or 1.5 cars per household
Access to Technology
By 2000, 95% of households had fixed line telephone. Internet penetration rates in 2007 were 42% although only 3% of the population uses broadband. 340,000 out of the total population of 380,000 people in Brunei use mobile phones!
03/08/2005 09/01/2008 4307
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