Countries by Poor Health
Complete ranking of 37 countries • % reporting poor health • Updated 2026
About Perceived Health As Negative Rankings
Latvia leads all 37 countries in Perceived Health As Negative with a value of 15.1, while Colombia ranks last at 1.30. This represents a 12-fold difference between the highest and lowest values.
What Perceived Health As Negative Measures
Perceived Health As Negative is a comparative indicator tracked across countries by the OECD. It provides a quantitative basis for cross-national comparison, enabling researchers and policymakers to benchmark national performance on this dimension against global peers.
Why This Ranking Matters
Examining Perceived Health As Negative across all countries reveals patterns that might not be obvious at the national level. Regional clusters, outlier nations, and historical trajectories all become clearer when the full global picture is assembled in a single ranking.
Global Range
Values range from 1.30 (Colombia) to 15.1 (Latvia) — a 12-fold difference across 37 countries.
Regional Patterns
European countries dominate this ranking, holding 17 of the top 20 positions. This strong regional concentration suggests shared economic, geographic, or policy factors that drive higher values across the continent.
Values are broadly distributed across countries, with the middle 50% ranging from 6.00 to 9.70. The overall spread from 1.30 to 15.1 reflects significant global variation.
Notable Outliers
The top of the ranking is competitive: Latvia and Japan are separated by only 12%, indicating that the leading positions could shift with updated data.
Continental Leaders
Highest Ranked
The top five countries for Perceived Health As Negative are Latvia (15.1), Japan (13.5), Estonia (12.3), Lithuania (12.1), and Portugal (12.1). Together, these nations represent the global leaders in this metric.
Lowest Ranked
At the other end of the spectrum, Colombia (1.30), New Zealand (2.90), Canada (3.20), United States (3.40), and Costa Rica (3.40) have the lowest values globally.
Data Source & Methodology
Rankings are based on the latest available data from OECD, covering 37 of 249 countries and territories. Countries without data for this metric are excluded from the ranking. All values represent the most recently reported figures.
Top 10 Countries
Full Rankings
| Percentile | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st |  Latvia | 15.1% | Europe | 100% |
| 2nd |  Japan | 13.5% | Asia | 97% |
| 3rd |  Estonia | 12.3% | Europe | 95% |
| 4th |  Lithuania | 12.1% | Europe | 92% |
| 5th |  Portugal | 12.1% | Europe | 89% |
| 6th |  Slovakia | 11.9% | Europe | 86% |
| 7th |  South Korea | 11.3% | Asia | 84% |
| 8th |  Germany | 10.9% | Europe | 81% |
| 9th |  Poland | 9.8% | Europe | 78% |
| 10th |  France | 9.7% | Europe | 76% |
| 11th |  Norway | 9.7% | Europe | 73% |
| 12th |  Hungary | 9.6% | Europe | 70% |
| 13th |  Czechia | 9.1% | Europe | 68% |
| 14th |  Israel | 9.1% | Asia | 65% |
| 15th |  Austria | 8.4% | Europe | 62% |
| 16th |  Slovenia | 8.4% | Europe | 59% |
| 17th |  Belgium | 8.3% | Europe | 57% |
| 18th |  United Kingdom | 8.3% | Europe | 54% |
| 19th |  Sweden | 8.0% | Europe | 51% |
| 20th |  Denmark | 7.7% | Europe | 49% |
| 21st |  Iceland | 7.5% | Europe | 46% |
| 22nd |  Spain | 7.3% | Europe | 43% |
| 23rd |  Turkey | 7.1% | Europe | 41% |
| 24th |  Greece | 7.0% | Europe | 38% |
| 25th |  Luxembourg | 6.2% | Europe | 35% |
| 26th |  Chile | 6.1% | South America | 32% |
| 27th |  Finland | 6.1% | Europe | 30% |
| 28th |  Netherlands | 6.0% | Europe | 27% |
| 29th |  Italy | 5.9% | Europe | 24% |
| 30th |  Ireland | 4.8% | Europe | 22% |
| 31st |  Switzerland | 4.4% | Europe | 19% |
| 32nd |  Australia | 3.8% | Oceania | 16% |
| 33rd |  Costa Rica | 3.4% | North America | 14% |
| 34th |  United States | 3.4% | North America | 11% |
| 35th |  Canada | 3.2% | North America | 8% |
| 36th |  New Zealand | 2.9% | Oceania | 5% |
| 37th |  Colombia | 1.3% | North America | 3% |