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1 correction found
their living standards are very low by U.S. standards.
Standard international measures do not show Denmark or Norway having very low living standards relative to the U.S. UNDP ranks Norway and Denmark above the U.S. on the 2023 Human Development Index, and its income table places both countries at or above the U.S. on estimated GNI per capita.
Full reasoning
This is contradicted by major cross-country measures of living standards.
- The UNDP defines the Human Development Index (HDI) as covering three dimensions, including "a decent standard of living." In the 2025 Human Development Report's 2023 rankings, Norway is ranked #2 (HDI 0.970) and Denmark #4 (HDI 0.962), while the United States is #17 (HDI 0.938).
- In the same report's component table, the estimated GNI per capita values are 112,710 for Norway, 76,008 for Denmark, and 73,650 for the United States.
- World Bank PPP GDP-per-capita data likewise show Norway above the U.S. and Denmark close to the U.S., not "very low" relative to it.
A person may have a subjective impression about grocery-store selection or prices, but that is not the same as showing that national living standards are "very low by U.S. standards." On standard international measures, Denmark and Norway are not very low relative to the United States; they score similarly or better.
3 sources
- Human development indices
The UNDP table lists 2023 HDI ranks and values as: Norway #2 (0.970), Denmark #4 (0.962), and United States #17 (0.938).
- Human Development Report 2025 — Table 1: Human Development Index and its component
The table reports estimated GNI per capita of 112,710 for Norway, 76,008 for Denmark, and 73,650 for the United States.
- World Development Indicators | DataBank
World Bank PPP GDP per capita data shown on the page list 2025 values of 104,043.7 for Norway, 83,218.1 for Denmark, and 90,026.5 for the United States.