Best countries in the world according to the 2020 U.S. News & World Report. Switzerland retained top spot for the fourth consecutive year with Canada at second place and Japan at third spot
The 2020 Best Countries rankings are conducted by U.S. News & World Report in partnership with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and global marketing communications firm VMLY&R’s BAV Group.
This year, Canada beat Japan who took second spot in 2019 while Germany remained at fourth place. Australia edged up to fifth spot overtaking United Kingdom, and United States is up a notch to number eight compared to 2019 rankings.
Top 10 Best Countries
1. Switzerland
2. Canada
3. Japan
4. Germany
5. Australia
6. United Kingdom
7. United States
8. Sweden
9. Netherlands
10. Norway
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The fifth annual project is based on a survey of over 20,000 people from 36 countries in four regions – the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East and Africa. The report covered perceptions of 73 nations. The goal was to examine a nation’s value beyond hard metrics, cited U.S. News & World Report.
Participants comprised of informed elites, business decision-makers and the general public. They were provided a set of 65 country attributes, and asked to gauge how closely they associated an attribute with a nation. Attributes were classified into nine sub-rankings, according to U.S. News & World Report.
- Adventure (2%): friendly, fun, pleasant climate, scenic, sexy.
- Citizenship (15.88%): cares about human rights, cares about the environment, gender equality, progressive, religious freedom, respects property rights, trustworthy, well-distributed political power.
- Cultural Influence (12.96%): culturally significant in terms of entertainment, fashionable, happy, has an influential culture, modern, prestigious, trendy.
- Entrepreneurship (17.87%): connected to the rest of the world, educated population, entrepreneurial, innovative, provides easy access to capital, skilled labor force, technological expertise, transparent business practices, well-developed infrastructure, well-developed legal framework.
- Heritage (1.13%): culturally accessible, has a rich history, has great food, many cultural attractions.
- Movers (14.36%): different, distinctive, dynamic, unique.
- Open for Business (11.08%): bureaucratic, cheap manufacturing costs, corrupt, favorable tax environment, transparent government practices.
- Power (7.95%): a leader, economically influential, politically influential, strong international alliances, and a strong military.
- Quality of Life (16.77%): a good job market, affordable, economically stable, family friendly, income equality, politically stable, safe, well-developed public education system, well-developed public health system.
The Best Countries rankings are based mainly on perception and countries are evaluated on the same set of 65 country attributes annually.
