Australia placed 14th overall, making it the world’s top-ranked non-European country, while Singapore followed closely in 16th place.
They were the only non-European nations to break into the upper tier of the rankings, ahead of Japan (17th), the United States (18th) and Canada (19th).
Patrons dine-in at a bar by the harbor in Sydney, Australia in 2021. Photo by Reuters |
Switzerland retained the No. 1 position, followed by Denmark, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands. The rest of the top 10 included Norway, the United Kingdom, Finland, Luxembourg and Austria.
Despite Europe’s dominance in most categories, Singapore delivered one of the strongest individual performances, ranking first in infrastructure. Researchers highlighted the city-state’s advanced transport systems, digital readiness and urban efficiency as key strengths under the revamped methodology.
Cambodia topped the world for natural environment and the U.S. leads in culture & tourism.
Australia also performed strongly across multiple categories, scoring high in governance, economic development, healthcare and quality of life.
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People walk along the shore of lake on a warm spring afternoon in Zurich, Switzerland, April 30, 2025. Photo by Reuters |
The 2026 edition marked a major methodological overhaul by U.S. News & World Report, shifting away from a perception-based approach to a data-driven framework evaluating 100 countries across eight categories: governance, culture and tourism, economic development, health, infrastructure, natural environment, opportunity and civic health.
Researchers used hundreds of international datasets and more than 100 indicators sourced from over 30 organizations, including the United Nations, World Bank and World Health Organization. The revised methodology also incorporated measures such as labor preparedness, digital competitiveness, diplomatic centrality and biodiversity.
Analysts said Europe’s continued dominance reflected the region’s strong institutions, social welfare systems, infrastructure quality and environmental performance. Nordic countries particularly excelled in governance, civic trust and living standards.
Switzerland, which has now topped the rankings eight times, achieved consistently high scores across nearly all categories, ranking first in governance and economic development, second in opportunity and culture and tourism, and fourth in health.
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