These ‘world’s best countries’ studies seem to happen all too regularly, but a new one is now claiming the best one is…
(Drum roll, please)
It’s Germany. Canada was second and the U.K. finished surprisingly high in third. The U.S rocked up in fourth place and I can’t imagine they’ll be happy at all, to be trailing their neighbours in Canada and their cousins across the Atlantic.
This is all according to the ‘Best Countries’ ranking from US News & World Report, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and global brand consultants BAV Consulting.
These findings were officially unveiled at World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week.
This new project ranks 60 countries across 24 categories and is based on a survey of more than 16,000 people.
It’s no surprise the U.S. ranked first in power and influence, but they were knocked down, with the study citing concerns such as the rise of racial tensions, high death toll due to firearms and income inequality.
Sweden scored the most top spots, ranking first for being the best country for citizenship, raising kids and green living. Other top rankings include Brazil for adventure; Luxembourg for opening a business; France for cultural influence; Germany for entrepreneurship; Canada for quality of life; Italy for heritage; and India for its up-and-coming economy.
Happiness, however, did not appear to factor in the rankings, with Switzerland — the “happiest” according to 2015’s World Happiness Report.
The ranking relied on surveys from 16,248 people from 36 countries around the globe, with each participant being asked to share his or her perceptions on a random selection of 65 attributes for a random selection of countries.
The attributes were each scored and grouped into nine broader categories: adventure, citizenship, cultural influence, entrepreneurship, heritage, movers, open for business, power and quality of life. These were then put together with more financial aspects including the average salary and GDP of each country.
I can see this changing very soon…
