8.3.17

Best Countries in the World


US News and World Report, along with Y&R’s BAV Consulting and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania released an annual survey of the best countries in the world. Their 2017 rankings prioritized countries that enjoyed some measure of peace, quiet and prosperity. Switzerland took the top spot for the first time based on a combination of its attitude toward education, democracy, business and quality of life. Canada was ranked second and Britain third. Germany, last year’s winner, slid to fourth because of a string of terrorist attacks. Japan came in fifth place.

India slipped to the 25th spot out of 80 countries from 22nd. “India faces its fair share of international and domestic challenges. While India has an upper class that enjoys a lifestyle similar to those of Western and East Asian elites, many of its citizens live in poverty,” the survey said.

To everyone’s surprise, The United States dropped to the number 7th spot. According to the survey, “More than 70 percent of survey respondents lost respect for US leadership as a result of the toxic nature of the US election. That sentiment, combined with the global distaste for Donald Trump, played a role in the US falling from the No 4 Best Country to No 7”.

Apart from the ‘Best Countries’ category, there were other categories like ‘The Most Powerful countries’ where US was the undisputed No.1 followed by Russia, China, the United Kingdom and Germany. In ‘The Best Countries for Women’ category Sweden was ranked the best country in the world for women. Scandinavia dominated in the ‘The Best Countries for Children’ category.   New Zealand was ranked as ‘The Best Countries for Retirees’ followed by Australia, Switzerland, Canada and Portugal.

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