The Netherlands has the second highest standard of well-being in the European Union when it comes to the present day, national statistics office CBS said on Monday.

Only Sweden is more prosperous in terms of 23 key indicators reflecting wealth, welfare and personal growth, the CBS said. Croatia comes bottom of the ranking of the 27 EU member states.

The Netherlands scores well in 14 of the 23 indicators and is particularly high when it comes to trust in one’s fellow man. But the country performs badly in two areas – spending on housing and healthy women’s life expectancy.  

Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Slovakia and Greece also perform poorly in the ranking. All, apart from Greece, were part of the Soviet block up to 1989 at least.

The Netherlands scores best of all EU member states in terms of work and free time. It also has the highest percentage of people in work and almost the lowest long-term unemployment rate.

In addition, the Dutch also have the most contact with friends, family and neighbours – three-quarters have contact with them at least once a week.