Scotland is the worst-performing small country in western Europe, and Glasgow is the worst-performing city in Scotland, according to the Federation of Small Business Scotland's index of success 2007.
The third annual FSB survey comparing quality of life in Scotland to that of the top nations of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows the country falling further behind in nearly every category measured.
Written by John McLaren, honorary research fellow at the University of Glasgow, the report seeks to gauge Scotland's position relative to other nations through comparison, first with all 31 OECD nations, then with the 24 nations of a similar stage of development and thirdly, the nine small nations of a similar size to Scotland in terms of population.
The top performers were once again Switzerland and Iceland, followed by Japan and Norway, and the worst were Portugal and Greece.
McLaren said: "Scotland lies towards the bottom of the third quartile, but when compared to the smaller nations of the OECD, Scotland has failed to maintain the progress recorded in the 2006 index and languishes, once again, at the bottom of the league table.
"In terms of individual indicators, Scotland's performance remains: average in terms of GDP per capita; very poor in terms of life expectancy - the lowest of the OECD 24 - but above average for both education and employment."
Since the publication of the first index in 2005, Scotland has fallen two places to 17th in the full list of 31 OECD countries, but remains 17th when this list is reduced to 24 "developed" countries.
FSB Scotland policy convener Andy Willox said: "Health, education, the employment rate and economic performance are all interlinked. The index clearly shows that, on these indicators, Scotland is the worst small country in western Europe, and requires urgent action to improve both our life chances and life expectancy."
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