Main Points

Ireland ranks 18th out of 162 countries for quality of life (human development index)

Norway heads the human development index, followed by Australia and Canada

Bottom 20 countries on the index are in Africa

1.2 billion people live on less than $1 a day, 2.8 billion on less than $2 a day

The richest 1 per cent of the world's people receive as much income as the poorest 57 per cent

Ireland 16th out of 17 Western countries for "human poverty"

Income inequality higher in Ireland than in any other Western country apart from the US and the UK