Why Switzerland Is the World’s Best Country – Again
With a reputation for a high quality of life and a healthy business environment, the Alpine nation in central Europe continues to tower atop the Best Countries rankings.
By Elliott Davis Jr.
U.S. News
The Los Angeles Lakers from 2000 to 2002. The New York Yankees from 1998 to 2000. The Chicago Bulls – twice.
Three-peat championship winners occupy relatively rare territory. In the annual Best Countries rankings from U.S. News, that territory is distinctly Alpine.
The small central European nation of Switzerland is No. 1 in the rankings for the third consecutive year and seventh time overall since the project’s inception. The 2024 analysis, released Tuesday, reflects perceptions of 89 countries based on a survey that reached almost 17,000 global citizens, with respondents connecting nations to dozens of attributes within 10 subrankings such as heritage, cultural influence, power and social purpose.
The 25 Best Countries in the World
The Flag draped entrance to the United Nations Building in Geneva Switzerland.
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Only two countries aside from Switzerland have topped the Best Countries rankings: Germany in the inaugural year of 2016 and Canada in 2021, breaking a run of four consecutive titles for the Swiss from 2017 to 2020. Switzerland this year came out on top again despite not placing No. 1 in any subranking, though it’s still a consistently strong performer: The nation ranks second in open for business, third in quality of life – where it jumped from No. 6 in 2023 – and is in the top 10 of several other subrankings.
Its lowest spot in the subrankings is No. 29, in heritage.
“As a former ambassador, I have been around. I have lived many years abroad in countries. So I think it’s really the overall package of stability,” says Thomas Borer, founder and managing partner of Zurich-based Dr. Borer Consulting. “That is what people like. And then, of course, we have a beautiful landscape.”
Borer, who formerly served as Switzerland’s ambassador to Germany, says the country’s stability is evident in areas such as politics, the economy, education and innovation, and it ranks highly in many related attributes of the Best Countries analysis. Case in point: It’s No. 2 for both economic and political stability, based on the perceptions of survey respondents.
Joël Mesot, president of the public university ETH Zurich, credits the country’s “amazing education system” for some of the engineered products Switzerland is most famous for, like bridges and watches.
Borer adds that Switzerland’s high quality of life is “obvious,” pointing to a low crime rate and strong transportation system. In the Best Countries project, the country is perceived as the safest among those assessed and also lands at No. 10 for perceptions of its infrastructure.
But the open for business subranking, which analyzes how business-friendly a country is perceived to be, is where Switzerland really shines. It ranks as the least corrupt nation among those in the Best Countries analysis and also places fifth for perceptions of a favorable tax environment – two attributes that inform the subranking.
Borer notes Switzerland’s “relatively low taxes compared to the other countries” as part of its lure and says underneath it all, “working is not seen as a nuisance” there. Switzerland ranks No. 5 in the related entrepreneurship subranking, and Mesot highlights his university’s own successful startup ecosystem – even if he wishes businesspeople in the country had more ambitious goals.
“We are a bit risk-averse, we Swiss,” he says.
While the country doesn’t come out on top in any of the 10 subrankings, it does place No. 1 in three other unique lists that are part of the Best Countries project: the Best Countries to Headquarter a Corporation, the Best Countries to Start a Career and the Best Countries for a Comfortable Retirement. Overall, Switzerland ranks first for four attributes tied to the broader subrankings and overall rankings, including those assessing perceptions of a country’s trustworthiness and low level of corruption. It lands second for four of those attributes.
Switzerland, of course, might be most associated politically with its long-held position of neutrality, which aims to ensure independence and prevent the nation from participating in wars but has not been without controversy, particularly following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Presence Switzerland, a government agency that promotes the country abroad, noted in a report that year that the concept of neutrality “was associated more strongly with Switzerland than in previous years but was viewed less positively.”
Switzerland also is not a member of the European Union, though it has a number of agreements with the body and the two entities have engaged in talks in recent years toward a framework agreement on key issues.
Neutrality “is an aspect which is important politically,” says Borer, who has advocated for the country to scrap the policy. However, the concept is not really “a core pillar of the reason why we are so attractive,” he argues, and in the Best Countries analysis, Switzerland does rank 15th for having strong international alliances. Mesot, of ETH Zurich, says the country’s history as a direct democracy aids its global standing.
Switzerland’s No. 1 overall ranking doesn’t mean it’s a utopia. The country is near the bottom of the list for the affordable attribute, for example. Borer also mentions challenges with the nation’s bureaucracy.
Still, the former diplomat brings the focus back to Switzerland’s stability, which he says allows it to stand out in a “less and less predictable world.”
“Everything is predictable” in the country, he says. “The economy is predictable, but also the lifestyle is very predictable. Everything works very well.”
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