International Living has just published its annual Quality of Life Index for 2011. Topping the Index this year is the United States of America.

In the influential publication’s 2011 Quality of Life index, last year’s winner France slipped to fourth place out of the 192 countries surveyed.

It is the first time in five years that France, described last year as a place where “life is savored,” hasn’t held top spot.

International Living rated countries across nine categories — cost of living, culture, economy, environment, freedom, health, infrastructure, safety and risk, and climate — coming up with an overall ranking for the comparative quality of life.

It said that the United States “has a convenience that’s hard to match,” along with “more paved roads than anywhere else, more airports and a lot of cell phones.

It’s got good Internet access, the world’s biggest economy, and it’s got tens of thousands of doctors and hospitals (if you can afford them).”

Malta earned second spot in the survey, followed by New Zealand, which the magazine said was a “first-world retirement haven.”

France came fourth, followed by neighbors Monaco, Belgium and Germany, with Austria, the United Kingdom and Japan completing the rest of the top ten.

However, there were some surprises in the list, such as Switzerland, which held third place in last year’s list and has fallen to 28th place, one place ahead of Canada.

Source: Relaxnews

2011 Quality of Life Index

1. United States
2. Malta
3. New Zealand
4. France
5. Monaco
6. Belgium
7. Germany
8. Austria
9. United Kingdom
10. Japan