The folks at Thrillist have crunched the stats on what every country in Europe is the worst at, and there are some surprising findings across the board.
Starting at home Ireland, it turns out we have the highest rate of cystic fibrosis, 1 case per 1,800 births. That's obviously a worry but also something that we were unaware of. As it turns out, we don't just have the highest rate in Europe, we have the highest in the world, and if you want to learn more or find out a way that you can help, then head to Cystic Fibrosis Ireland.
Our next door neighbours in the UK are totally different, they actually have a problem with cocaine use, being the worst in Europe for the white stuff. Of the other major European players, France can't speak English so hot (so they probably can't tell the English to give up the cocaine), Germans have the lowest rate of home ownership, Italy has the highest rate of tax fraud (we're saying nothing), while Spain has the highest dropout rate, meaning a rather worrying 23.5% of students in the country don't finish school.
On a lighter note, the poor old Danes are struggling to get their hands on any clothes from Zara, as there are only two shops in the whole country, which must make Christmas shopping a nightmare. Then again, them and their Scandinavian pals have plenty of options when it comes to fashion, with Jack & Jones, COS, H&M... Are they just too stylish for Zara?
On the bleaker side, Estonia has the biggest pay gap between genders, the Czech republic is the home of modern slavery and while Finland has the highest depression rate, it's Lithuania that has the suicide rate, nearly ten times that of Greece.
Speaking of Greece, they fall under the "No s**t, Sherlock" category as it turns out they have the highest foreign debt in Europe. We never would have guessed, but that said, we're probably not too far off them ourselves. On the other side, there are a few others that did come as a surprise, such as the fact that Belgium has the worst traffic in Europe, Poland has the fewest doctors per capita, and Bulgaria has the worst freedom of the press, so they definitely won't be reading this.
Those are just a few of the findings, but the full list on Thrillist has plenty of information about what countries are best at too, as well as other surprising findings about the EU, so check it out.
Via Thrillist. Main pic via Thrillist.
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