A Table Comparing Stats from Core Anglosphere Countries

By Alex Lingerfelt

July 18th, 2024

Have you ever wondered how quality of life differentiates between major English-speaking nations? If by the unlikely chance, your answer is yes, this article is for you! Below is a comparison of statistics from the five “core” Anglosphere countries. It is important to note some sources include Ireland as a core Anglosphere country, but I’ve decided to exclude them from this list due to the nation’s unique Gaelic culture. Below is the table comparing different quality of life measurements among the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. 

These were the following sources used to create the table below: Heritage.org; World Population Review; CIA World Factbook; Ourworlddata.org; World Bank

	USA	UK	Canada	Australia	New Zealand
Human Development Index	0.927	0.940	0.935	0.946	0.939
Life Expectancy (years)	79.98	83.18	82.45	83.87	83.3
Mean years in school	13.3	12.9	12.9	12.9	10.8
Gross Domestic Product PPP (in trillions)	$21.5	$3.1	$1.9	$1.3	$0.2
GNI (per capita)	$77,950	$55,210	$57,760	$60,830	$50,910
Tax burden	74.8	62.3	75.8	62.6	65.5
Poverty rate	18%	18.6%	10.5%	12.6%	N/A
Happiness	6.73	6.75	6.9	7.06	7.03
Obesity rate	42.7%	20.1%	24.3%	31.3%	34.3%
Economic Freedom Index	70.1	68.6	72.4	76.2	77.8
Population (in millions)	333	67	39	26	5
Percent of Anglophones	78.2%	91.1%	87.1%	72%	95.5%
Defense spending by GDP Percent	3.4%	2.3%	1.2%	1.9%	1.2%
Largest city	New York City	London	Toronto	Sydney	Auckland
Largest city metro population (millions)	18.9	9.6	5.9	5.26	1.4
Capital city	Washington D.C.	London	Ottowa	Canberra	Wellington
Capital City metro population (millions)	6.3	9.6	1.4	0.5	0.2

Something to point out is the United States has a lower Human Development Index than the rest of the Anglosphere countries. Despite having the highest GNI per capita and mean years of schooling, the lower sub-eighty life expectancy rate is dragging its HDI down. On the contrary, Australia is relatively high in each category, has a life expectancy approaching eighty-four years, and has the highest Human Development Index Score. Of the countries, Anglosphere states in North America experience the highest tax burden. It may seem strange that the United States has a high tax burden compared to the other Anglosphere countries, but this is more understandable with the fact that the United States has a federal system and thus California and New York–where nearly 60 million people live–will bring up the average tax burden. Both the United Kingdom and the United States are last among Anglosphere countries when it comes to happiness, with Oceania coming in with the highest happiness levels. 

Unsurprisingly the United States has the highest obesity rate which is probably due to portion size, diet, and sedentary lifestyle. However, New Zealand and Australia are second and third when it comes to obesity. The high rates of obesity explain the lower life expectancy in the United States, yet despite having high obesity rates in New Zealand and Australia, these two countries have the highest life expectancy of Anglosphere countries. When it comes to basic statistics the United States has a much higher population than the rest of the Anglosphere countries. Ironically, England does not have the greatest percentage of English speakers compared to the population, that honor goes to New Zealand. On a final note, it’s a bit interesting that only England’s largest city is also the capital of the country. The United States and Australia’s capital were decided based on compromises, Ottawa was chosen in a defensive position to protect Quebec and Ontario, and Wellington was chosen due to its central geography in New Zealand.

This article was originally written out of curiosity, but I decided it would be beneficial to also share the results with the public. Hopefully, you found some of the statistics interesting!

Chicago:

Lingerfelt, Alex J. 2024. “A Table Comparing Stats from Core Anglosphere Countries.” The Discipulus. https://feltgrad.wixsite.com/the-frumentarius/post/a-table-comparing-stats-from-core-anglosphere-countries.

MLA:

Lingerfelt, Alex J. “A Table Comparing Stats from Core Anglosphere Countries.” The Discipulus, 18th July 2024, https://feltgrad.wixsite.com/the-frumentarius/post/a-table-comparing-stats-from-core-anglosphere-countries.

APA:

Lingerfelt, A. J. (2024, July 18th). A Table Comparing Stats from Core Anglosphere Countries. The Discipulus. https://feltgrad.wixsite.com/the-frumentarius/post/a-table-comparing-stats-from-core-anglosphere-countries.