France has been voted the best country in the world to live, for the second year running, according to the US based magazine International Living.

In second place came Australia, followed by the Netherlands and New Zealand. The UK only reaches 37th position out of a total of 193 countries in the survey.

The survey carried out by the magazine is based on a 'Quality of Life' index, which is gleaned from a range of official and other authoritative sources, such as the World Health Organisation and The Economist.

The index measures nine categories - Cost of Living, Culture and Leisure, Economy, Environment, Freedom, Health, Infrastructure, Safety and Risk, and Climate.

Whilst the magazine acknowledges that France is not without its disadvantages, notably the level of bureaucracy and taxation, they consider the country has so much going for it as to outweigh some of the hardships.

Amongst the things they praise about the country are the sheer variety of landscape and food on offer, the quality of transport systems, the strength of the economy and, of course, the quality of the health care.

They also consider that, whilst Paris is becoming increasingly expensive, homes in France still compare very well and offer good value for money.