The latest Best Countries ranking by U.S. News has named Switzerland as the best country in the world. To create the ranking, the study uses people's perceptions of 73 “country attributes,” ranging from quality of life to entrepreneurship.

Best Countries ranking 2022

The Best Countries ranking by U.S. News is a study of how 85 different countries are perceived around the world. To create the ranking, 17.000 people from a range of different backgrounds were surveyed to see how each nation is seen based on 73 different “attributes.” These are arranged into 10 separate categories, which are weighted from most important (the top of this list) to least:

• Quality of Life
• Entrepreneurship
• Agility
• Social Purpose
• Movers
• Cultural Influence
• Open for Business
• Adventure
• Power
• Heritage

Within each of these categories, people were asked questions ranging from how they rated the availability of jobs and quality of healthcare in each country, to how progressive and unique they believe a nation's society is and the quality of their historical sites. Each nation is then given a grade in each category, and a weighted average is given as the final score.  

Switzerland regarded as the best country in the world

In this year’s ranking, Switzerland has reclaimed the top spot after coming fourth in 2021, and is now perceived as the best country in the world. Germany came in second, with Canada, the United States and Sweden rounding out the top five.

Switzerland was praised highly, placing in the top 10 in the Open for Business, Quality of Life, Social Purpose, Cultural Influence and Entrepreneurship categories. As it is the home to many large international companies and banks, and has a strong and skilled workforce, it did especially well in business categories.

Swiss people are perceived to be politically engaged and healthy

Switzerland was also praised for providing a healthy lifestyle and having a politically engaged population, with the survey ranking Switzerland first in regard to caring about human rights and being health conscious. The study claimed that, even though the country joined sanctions against Russia, people still perceive Switzerland to be neutral and diplomatically astute.

Despite being top of the order, there were some areas where Switzerland was held back. The alpine nation's lowest score was in the “Movers ” category, as fewer people regard Switzerland as “different, distinctive, dynamic and unique.”

The best-perceived nations in the world in 2022

In all, these are perceived to be the best countries in the world in 2022:

1. Switzerland
2. Germany
3. Canada
4. United States
5. Sweden
6. Japan
7. Australia
8. United Kingdom
9. France
10. Denmark

For more information about how the ranking was calculated, check out the U.S. News website.