Which is the best country in terms of peace, entrepreneurship, prosperity, business opportunities and quality of life?? According to the annual survey of the best countries in the world, released by U.S. News & World Report, along with Y&R’s BAV Consulting and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, it’s Switzerland from the 80 countries accessed on various criteria. India has slipped to rank 25 from its earlier 22 ranks in 2016 on the list.
The report says, “People regard the European country highly for its citizenship, being open for business, an environment that encourages entrepreneurship, the quality of life it provides its citizens and for its cultural influence.” The results are broken down into a range of categories that include the most powerful country, the best country to invest in, and the best country for Women, Children and Retirees.
Canada took the No. 2 spot in the best countries ranking, followed by the U.K., Germany, Japan, Sweden and then the U.S. The United States has fallen to seventh place in a ranking from its previous No. 4 ranking of the best countries in the world. In 2016, Germany was in top place, followed by Canada, the U.K., the U.S., Sweden, Australia and Japan. Switzerland was one of 20 new countries evaluated this year.
Sweden was at rank 6, one spot down from 2016, followed by the United States at number 7 (rank 4 in 2016), Australia at 8th (rank 6 in 2016), France at 9 (8 in 2016) and Norway at 10 (unranked in 2016).
Singapore remained unchanged at 15th rank while China slipped from 17th rank to 20th rank. The United Arab Emirates, previously unranked in 2016 is 22nd. South Korea dropped from 19th to 23rd rank. India too slipped from 22 to 25th.
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A total of 80 countries were considered; the top 25 is as follows:
- Switzerland
- Canada
- United Kingdom
- Germany
- Japan
- Sweden
- United States
- Australia
- France
- Norway
- Netherlands
- Denmark
- Finland
- New Zealand
- Singapore
- Italy
- Luxembourg
- Austria
- Spain
- China
- Ireland
- United Arab Emirates (UAE)
- South Korea
- Portugal
- India
World’s Most Powerful Country
The report says that nearly 75% of survey respondents had lost respect for the U.S. to some degree because of the toxic tone of the 2016 Presidential campaign. However, it adds: “Despite [slipping in the ranking], the U.S. continues to be seen as the world’s most powerful country: an economically and politically consequential nation with strong international alliances and strong military alliances.”
Best Countries for Women in the World
Sweden followed by Denmark and Norway ranked the best country in the world for women. The ranking was based on how survey respondents viewed a country’s position on human rights, gender equality, income equality, safety and overall progressive attitude.
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Best Country for Retirees in the World
New Zealand, followed by Australia, Switzerland, Canada and Portugal ranked The Best Countries for Retirees based on nice climates and were affordable, friendly, committed to public health care, low taxes and respectful of property rights.
Best Countries Ranking Methodology
The Report identified a set of 65 country attributes that can be used to describe a country and that are also relevant to the success of a modern nation. In a survey of more than 21,000 people from across the globe, the participants were asked to assess how closely they associated an attribute with a nation.
“Our data captured widespread global concern for the social and geopolitical changes that cast many nations into uncertainty and turmoil,” said John Gerzema, chief executive of BAV Consulting. “The new rankings reflect people’s desire to restore some sense of order by rewarding nations they perceive as championing neutrality, stability and diplomacy.”
These attributes were grouped into nine sub-rankings that rolled into the Best Countries ranking, ,but certain factors are more important: Adventure (3.24 percent), Citizenship (16.95 percent), Cultural Influence (12.93 percent), Entrepreneurship (17.42 percent), Heritage (3.17 percent), Movers (10.00 percent), Open for Business (11.91 percent), Power (7.42 percent) and Quality of Life (16.89 percent). Subranking weights do not add up to precisely 100.00 due to rounding.
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To determine the weight each sub-ranking score had in the overall Best Countries score, each was correlated to 2014 gross domestic product purchasing power parity per capita, a measure of inclusive prosperity, as reported by the International Monetary Fund.
Sub-rankings that demonstrated a stronger relationship with the wealth metric were weighted more heavily, and all weights were standardized to total 100.
U.S. News said the 2017 Best Countries report and rankings are based on how global perceptions define countries in terms of a number of qualitative characteristics, impressions that have the potential to drive trade, travel and investment and directly affect national economies.
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