Point blank, Australia’s got it all. Not just according to us, but according to a fresh ranking of the best countries in the world for 2024. Our Lucky Country took out the fifth spot, slipping just one place from 2023, but still beating out Sweden, the UK and New Zealand.
Now in its ninth year, the U.S. News Best Countries ranking analysed almost 100 of the world’s top GDP nations across 73 attributes crucial to the success of a modern nation. After surveying 17,000 people globally, they ranked countries on factors like quality of life, entrepreneurship, adventure, cultural influence, power and social purpose – also assigning each country an aggregate score.
Where Australia truly shined was in the agility category, ranking third in the world for its ability to adapt to challenges with ease. Our adventurous spirit also stood out, placing us eighth globally in this category, judged by indicators like friendliness, fun, scenic beauty, having a pleasant climate and even a touch of sexiness. When it comes to quality of life, Australia secured another eighth-place ranking, thanks to essential day-to-day factors like housing, education, healthcare, employment and food security.
What held us back was our 31st place ranking in the ‘movers’ category, which measures how prepared a country is to tackle global economic challenges, along with our 20th place ‘heritage’ ranking and 18th place ‘power’ ranking.
Interested to see who beat us? You can check out the full report here or read our snapshot below.
Here are the best countries in the world for 2024, according to U.S. News:
- Switzerland
- Japan
- United States
- Canada
- Australia
- Sweden
- Germany
- United Kingdom
- New Zealand
- Denmark
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