U.S. News Best Countries
2023 Rankings
The overall ranking of Best Countries measure global performance on a variety of metrics. Switzerland is the best country in the world for 2023.
#1 in Best Countries Overall
Read More »Switzerland, officially called the Swiss Confederation, is a small country in Central Europe made up of 16,000 square miles of glacier-carved Alps, lakes and valleys. It is one of the world’s wealthiest countries, and has been well-known for centuries for its neutrality.
$808 billionGDP
8.77 millionPopulation
$83,598GDP PC, PPP
#1 in Best Countries Overall
Read More »Switzerland, officially called the Swiss Confederation, is a small country in Central Europe made up of 16,000 square miles of glacier-carved Alps, lakes and valleys. It is one of the world’s wealthiest countries, and has been well-known for centuries for its neutrality.
GDP
$808 billionGDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$83,598POPULATION
8.77 million#2 in Best Countries Overall
Read More »Canada takes up about two-fifths of the North American continent, making it the second-largest country in the world after Russia. The country is sparsely populated, with most of its 35.5 million residents living within 125 miles of the U.S. border. Canada’s expansive wilderness to the north plays a large role in Canadian identity, as does the country’s reputation of welcoming immigrants.
$2.14 trillionGDP
38.9 millionPopulation
$58,400GDP PC, PPP
#2 in Best Countries Overall
Read More »Canada takes up about two-fifths of the North American continent, making it the second-largest country in the world after Russia. The country is sparsely populated, with most of its 35.5 million residents living within 125 miles of the U.S. border. Canada’s expansive wilderness to the north plays a large role in Canadian identity, as does the country’s reputation of welcoming immigrants.
GDP
$2.14 trillionGDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$58,400POPULATION
38.9 million#3 in Best Countries Overall
Read More »The Kingdom of Sweden, flanked by Norway to the west and the Baltic Sea to the east, expands across much of the Scandinavian Peninsula and is one of the largest countries in the European Union by land mass. Capital city Stockholm was claimed in the 16th century, and border disputes through the Middle Ages established the modern-day nation.
$586 billionGDP
10.5 millionPopulation
$64,578GDP PC, PPP
#3 in Best Countries Overall
Read More »The Kingdom of Sweden, flanked by Norway to the west and the Baltic Sea to the east, expands across much of the Scandinavian Peninsula and is one of the largest countries in the European Union by land mass. Capital city Stockholm was claimed in the 16th century, and border disputes through the Middle Ages established the modern-day nation.
GDP
$586 billionGDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$64,578POPULATION
10.5 million#4 in Best Countries Overall
Read More »The Commonwealth of Australia occupies the Australian continent. The country also includes some islands, most notably Tasmania. Indigenous people occupied the land for at least 40,000 years before the first British settlements of the 18th century.
$1.68 trillionGDP
26.0 millionPopulation
$62,625GDP PC, PPP
#4 in Best Countries Overall
Read More »The Commonwealth of Australia occupies the Australian continent. The country also includes some islands, most notably Tasmania. Indigenous people occupied the land for at least 40,000 years before the first British settlements of the 18th century.
GDP
$1.68 trillionGDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$62,625POPULATION
26.0 million#5 in Best Countries Overall
Read More »The United States of America is a North American nation that is the world’s most dominant economic and military power. Likewise, its cultural imprint spans the world, led in large part by its popular culture expressed in music, movies and television.
$25.5 trillionGDP
333 millionPopulation
$76,399GDP PC, PPP
#5 in Best Countries Overall
Read More »The United States of America is a North American nation that is the world’s most dominant economic and military power. Likewise, its cultural imprint spans the world, led in large part by its popular culture expressed in music, movies and television.
GDP
$25.5 trillionGDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$76,399POPULATION
333 million#6 in Best Countries Overall
Read More »Japan, one of the world’s most literate and technically advanced nations, is an East Asian country made up of four main islands. While most of Japan is covered by mountains and heavily wooded areas, the country’s roughly 126 million people lead a distinctly urban lifestyle. Long culturally influenced by its neighbors, today the country blends its ancient traditions with aspects of Western life.
$4.23 trillionGDP
125 millionPopulation
$45,573GDP PC, PPP
#6 in Best Countries Overall
Read More »Japan, one of the world’s most literate and technically advanced nations, is an East Asian country made up of four main islands. While most of Japan is covered by mountains and heavily wooded areas, the country’s roughly 126 million people lead a distinctly urban lifestyle. Long culturally influenced by its neighbors, today the country blends its ancient traditions with aspects of Western life.
GDP
$4.23 trillionGDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$45,573POPULATION
125 million#7 in Best Countries Overall
Read More »Germany, the most populous nation in the European Union, possesses one of the largest economies in the world and has seen its role in the international community grow steadily since reunification. The Central European country borders nine nations, and its landscape varies, from the northern plains that reach to the North and Baltic seas to the Bavarian Alps in the south.
$4.07 trillionGDP
84.1 millionPopulation
$63,150GDP PC, PPP
#7 in Best Countries Overall
Read More »Germany, the most populous nation in the European Union, possesses one of the largest economies in the world and has seen its role in the international community grow steadily since reunification. The Central European country borders nine nations, and its landscape varies, from the northern plains that reach to the North and Baltic seas to the Bavarian Alps in the south.
GDP
$4.07 trillionGDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$63,150POPULATION
84.1 million#8 in Best Countries Overall
Read More »British and Polynesian influences course through picturesque New Zealand, an island nation in the Pacific Ocean southeast of Australia. Early Maori settlers ceded sovereignty to British invaders with the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, and European settlers flooded in. Today, 70 percent of Kiwis, a common term for the people of New Zealand after a native flightless bird, are of European descent. A sense of pride has surged among the Maori, the country’s first settlers who now account for about 14 percent, as homeland grievances become more openly addressed.
$247 billionGDP
5.12 millionPopulation
$51,967GDP PC, PPP
#8 in Best Countries Overall
Read More »British and Polynesian influences course through picturesque New Zealand, an island nation in the Pacific Ocean southeast of Australia. Early Maori settlers ceded sovereignty to British invaders with the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, and European settlers flooded in. Today, 70 percent of Kiwis, a common term for the people of New Zealand after a native flightless bird, are of European descent. A sense of pride has surged among the Maori, the country’s first settlers who now account for about 14 percent, as homeland grievances become more openly addressed.
GDP
$247 billionGDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$51,967POPULATION
5.12 million#9 in Best Countries Overall
Read More »The United Kingdom is a highly developed nation that exerts considerable international economic, political, scientific and cultural influence. Located off the northwest corner of Europe, the country includes the island of Great Britain – which contains England, Scotland and Wales – and the northern portion of the island of Ireland. The country’s role on the global stage faces new questions as the nation withdrew from the European Union. , as well as the policies supporting the eurozone.
$3.07 trillionGDP
67.0 millionPopulation
$54,603GDP PC, PPP
#9 in Best Countries Overall
Read More »The United Kingdom is a highly developed nation that exerts considerable international economic, political, scientific and cultural influence. Located off the northwest corner of Europe, the country includes the island of Great Britain – which contains England, Scotland and Wales – and the northern portion of the island of Ireland. The country’s role on the global stage faces new questions as the nation withdrew from the European Union. , as well as the policies supporting the eurozone.
GDP
$3.07 trillionGDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$54,603POPULATION
67.0 million#10 in Best Countries Overall
Read More »Situated along the fringes of Western Europe, the Netherlands is a coastal lowland freckled with windmills characteristic of its development around the water. Three major European rivers - the Rhine, Meuse and Schelde - run through neighbors Germany and Belgium into the nation’s busy ports.
$991 billionGDP
17.7 millionPopulation
$69,577GDP PC, PPP
#10 in Best Countries Overall
Read More »Situated along the fringes of Western Europe, the Netherlands is a coastal lowland freckled with windmills characteristic of its development around the water. Three major European rivers - the Rhine, Meuse and Schelde - run through neighbors Germany and Belgium into the nation’s busy ports.
GDP
$991 billionGDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$69,577POPULATION
17.7 million
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Here's a look at the data behind our rankings.