Switzerland is World’s Best in 2018

A new global report that ranks the best countries in the world has been released, and Switzerland is the top pick for the second year in a row.

The report, from U.S. News and World Report, evaluated 80 countries, with more than 21,000 global citizens interviewed as part of the survey. Each country was graded on nine individual attributes: entrepreneurship, adventure, citizenship, cultural influence, heritage, movers, open for business, power and quality of life. The results were compared to other nations.

Switzerland was on top, earning top marks for quality of life, business opportunities and culture.

Canada came in second place, also for the second year in a row, followed by Germany, the best in the entrepreneurship category. Fourth was the United Kingdom, followed by Japan, Sweden, Australia, the United States, France and The Netherlands.

On top for adventure was Brazil, followed by Italy and Spain. Italy also took the top spot for cultural influence and heritage.

The survey showed Norway as the best country for citizenship, with sub-rankings looking at human rights, environmental cares, gender equality, trustworthiness and well-distributed political power.

Best for overall quality of life? Canada, for economic stability, a well-developed public health system, safety and the job market.

“The Best Countries project is designed to help citizens, business leaders and policymakers better understand how their nations are perceived on a world scale. As a growing number of businesses and people have the ability to choose where in the world to invest their time and money, it has become increasingly valuable to understand how a nation’s policies, politics and products affect its perceived standing in the world,” U.S. News and World Report said about the new report.