In an unprecedented fall, the U.S. dropped out of the top 10 for the first time in the 2012 Legatum Prosperity Index that was published today.

The index benchmarks countries in eight categories: economy, education, entrepreneurship and opportunity, governance, health, personal freedom, safety and security, and social capital.

Legatum’s latest findings are further proof that the American Dream is in jeopardy. After clinging to 10th place in the 2011 index, America has dropped to 12th position in the worldwide prosperity rankings—with weakening performance across five of the index’s eight categories. Significantly, the U.S. fell eight places in the measure for entrepreneurship and opportunity.

The Legatum findings confirm earlier analysis in the Index of Economic Freedom, published annually by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. It has reported steadily declining scores for economic freedom in the United States for the past four years.