Good Country Index by Country 2024

The Good Country Index attempts to rank countries based on their contributions to the common good of all humanity in five different categories. This index makes comparing different countries simpler by placing all evaluated 169 nations on a list from first to 169th place.

What Is a Good Country According to the Good Country Index?

The Good Country Index defines a country based on the number of ways a country contributes to the rest of the planet and how much it uses. To ensure the scores don't wrongfully penalize smaller countries, the nation's size goes into account in the overall rankings.

What Indicators Does the Good Country Index Use?

Thirty-five indicators fall into seven categories to calculate the Good Country Index. Each category has five elements within it.

These categories include contributions in the following areas, science and technology, planet and climate, world order, prosperity and equality, culture, international peace and security, and health and wellbeing.

Indicators within each category account for the nation's economy size when necessary. For example, within the contributions to culture category, the exports of cultural goods and services and international festivals are both proportionate to the country's economy.

Some of the indicators impact the score negatively. For instance, higher birthrates and higher numbers of citizens living overseas detract from the overall Good Country Index score.

Calculating the Good Country Index

To create the list, the Good Country Index averages evenly the scores from each of the seven categories and ranks per the other 168 countries evaluated. In the ratings, if two nations have the same overall score, the country that has the lowest category rating falls below.

What Country Topped the Good Country Index

Countries that have higher ratings in their seven contribution categories have higher total rankings in the Good Country Index.

The most recent list as of 2023 places Sweden at the top of the Good Country Index. The second place scores in health and wellbeing and planet and climate and the first place finish in prosperity made Sweden the top nation.

Other countries in the top five of the Good Country Index were Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and Finland.

What Country Placed Lowest on the Good Country Index

Syria finished at the bottom of the Good Country Index listing at 169th place. However, none of the category ratings were the lowest of the 169 nations.

The other nations at the bottom of the list include Mauritania, Central African Republic, Libya, and Sudan.

Good Country Index rankings are based on 35 large datasets produced by United Nations agencies and other international organisations. Most of these datasets take several years to compile, analyse and publish.
Rankings shown come from the Good Country Index v1.5, the latest edition available as of 2024, which uses mostly 2020 data to provide a baseline.

167 countries

Country	Overall Rank	Culture Rank	Health and Wellbeing Rank	International Peace and Security Rank	Planet and Climate Rank	Prosperity and Equality Rank	Science and Technology Rank	World Order Rank
Sweden	1	13	2	39	2	1	15	9
Denmark	2	9	4	57	7	3	8	8
Germany	3	26	1	33	13	12	27	10
Netherlands	4	7	7	41	42	9	11	5
Finland	5	11	18	63	1	5	17	31
Canada	6	38	6	42	5	20	29	13
Belgium	7	1	12	58	26	4	18	36
Ireland	8	29	14	22	10	17	49	16
France	9	20	23	31	23	8	32	23
Austria	10	4	33	84	12	14	7	6
Norway	11	18	5	86	6	2	40	4
Luxembourg	12	32	9	26	34	7	56	3
Spain	13	12	28	28	33	10	42	18
United Kingdom	14	23	3	85	39	13	3	11
Switzerland	15	3	8	99	3	15	23	28
Cyprus	16	17	43	35	8	48	25	14
Slovenia	17	10	52	40	4	28	26	39
Australia	18	43	16	54	16	65	10	1
New Zealand	19	35	26	17	30	73	14	15
Iceland	20	28	27	37	15	22	61	25
Bulgaria	21	47	54	71	11	31	12	7
Estonia	22	2	36	55	9	29	28	84
Hungary	23	34	72	21	21	30	2	67
Italy	24	25	21	64	56	16	37	40
Singapore	25	19	30	10	51	18	38	101
Lithuania	26	33	48	73	18	36	13	50
Poland	27	36	97	20	37	49	16	21
Czech Republic	28	14	45	119	32	19	4	48
Portugal	29	5	42	78	22	44	30	63
Croatia	30	22	39	46	29	33	22	93
Malta	31	30	40	6	20	125	53	12
Slovakia	32	24	60	18	17	61	52	64
Chile	33	69	79	19	36	21	72	2
Japan	34	49	15	23	44	27	70	77
Latvia	35	8	41	49	24	102	5	83
Greece	36	31	99	34	62	35	35	20
South Korea	37	6	13	43	142	23	50	62
Serbia	38	53	64	56	98	24	33	29
North Macedonia	39	52	91	16	84	53	20	58
Moldova	40	94	68	2	72	25	64	54
Romania	41	45	77	65	14	89	44	53
Montenegro	42	58	112	97	28	6	21	65
Armenia	43	55	51	25	73	74	55	56
South Africa	44	48	62	38	127	79	19	22
Uruguay	45	66	85	9	25	54	131	26
United States	46	57	10	127	81	60	59	33
Tunisia	47	67	58	24	93	76	54	78
Malaysia	48	37	73	5	158	41	47	89
Costa Rica	49	63	82	88	46	55	75	42
Bosnia and Herzegovina	50	42	101	151	68	45	9	37
Georgia	51	64	114	75	65	11	68	66
India	52	112	22	30	113	51	81	55
Turkey	53	81	59	124	74	39	41	52
Russia	54	118	25	87	47	103	24	81
Morocco	55	100	94	1	87	34	46	128
Thailand	56	56	78	13	116	106	104	27
Ukraine	57	90	55	153	137	47	1	17
Mauritius	58	27	103	53	57	99	60	103
Israel	59	75	35	134	40	59	43	124
Dominican Republic	60	72	69	100	78	37	126	35
Panama	61	71	24	123	19	151	112	19
Brazil	62	119	70	112	41	69	86	30
Argentina	63	82	109	92	76	87	58	32
Albania	64	108	119	12	60	26	106	109
United Arab Emirates	65	40	17	150	145	63	83	51
Peru	66	99	100	107	71	57	82	34
Mexico	67	91	63	128	27	56	114	76
Colombia	68	133	87	126	63	42	74	41
China	69	120	57	69	50	88	79	107
Belarus	70	122	32	148	108	71	34	59
Rwanda	71	96	135	14	67	50	89	135
Kenya	72	92	92	103	53	108	97	45
Uganda	73	98	74	82	59	118	123	46
Nepal	74	139	124	27	80	52	103	75
Egypt	75	149	29	7	125	124	57	112
Seychelles	76	39	125	109	138	112	36	47
Guyana	77	61	50	47	90	105	159	96
Jordan	78	89	127	76	86	77	45	120
Liberia	79	127	56	120	139	67	51	60
Kyrgyzstan	80	129	157	4	82	83	67	105
Zambia	81	121	93	50	110	75	154	38
Lebanon	82	70	46	157	95	94	66	113
Indonesia	83	83	86	45	112	86	161	69
Ghana	84	84	129	60	103	98	101	71
Tanzania	85	80	141	36	52	135	156	57
Zimbabwe	86	73	107	44	77	128	99	131
Philippines	87	110	67	74	66	111	153	86
Fiji	88	41	90	48	160	91	76	164
Madagascar	89	115	130	67	43	92	137	87
Namibia	90	46	95	104	126	113	93	95
Nicaragua	91	74	53	116	75	107	116	133
Ecuador	92	144	123	102	58	40	136	73
Jamaica	93	44	106	96	96	64	149	123
Barbados	94	16	111	130	120	82	63	158
Togo	95	88	156	52	124	43	111	108
Benin	96	143	115	62	102	84	88	91
Tajikistan	97	134	110	61	119	96	105	61
Azerbaijan	98	124	75	89	111	70	96	125
Trinidad and Tobago	99	54	160	98	146	66	87	79
Kazakhstan	100	128	83	3	85	146	94	156
Vanuatu	101	21	163	161	31	97	69	163
Eswatini	102	76	121	114	38	114	132	116
El Salvador	104	86	20	144	100	58	147	159
Bangladesh	105	154	31	68	99	155	146	68
Mongolia	106	107	137	8	148	80	113	129
Palestine	107	140	104	139	141	32	6	166
Saint Lucia	108	59	142	140	45	110	80	155
Qatar	109	136	71	81	143	78	143	82
Pakistan	110	164	34	95	88	115	95	145
Brunei	111	62	164	11	132	134	138	98
Lesotho	112	87	105	94	150	133	122	49
Paraguay	113	117	108	93	69	161	168	24
Saudi Arabia	114	157	11	133	151	72	98	119
Ethiopia	115	116	152	91	49	120	124	90
Guatemala	116	106	117	111	92	68	109	141
Mozambique	117	153	37	29	130	143	150	102
Cape Verde	118	79	138	152	55	129	118	74
Cameroon	119	161	65	90	114	140	107	70
Vietnam	120	93	80	32	152	141	102	148
Burkina Faso	121	97	122	136	91	95	110	99
Senegal	122	137	61	122	136	109	91	94
Kuwait	123	101	19	80	155	153	128	115
Sierra Leone	124	146	44	117	115	121	77	132
Botswana	125	60	150	105	101	81	130	127
Samoa	126	65	168	106	97	132	31	161
Malawi	127	147	147	72	131	93	100	72
Bolivia	128	111	102	129	107	104	167	43
Sri Lanka	129	125	89	108	70	101	145	134
Ivory Coast	130	109	98	113	48	100	162	154
Oman	131	103	113	83	153	62	140	137
Antigua and Barbuda	132	104	158	138	123	38	90	140
Mali	133	123	49	118	121	90	160	130
Saint Kitts and Nevis	134	15	159	158	122	138	39	165
Cambodia	135	85	116	66	109	126	158	157
Algeria	136	151	139	15	166	162	92	92
Myanmar	137	95	162	70	105	165	84	138
Iran	138	166	38	142	168	163	48	100
Burundi	139	162	128	51	144	131	73	142
Nigeria	140	160	126	79	89	152	129	106
Tonga	141	50	140	132	135	158	62	169
Venezuela	142	145	96	135	118	137	119	97
Niger	143	152	143	131	128	85	133	80
Honduras	144	130	88	141	64	117	152	160
Bahrain	145	77	167	125	154	119	125	85
Gabon	147	114	134	77	79	160	142	152
Chad	148	159	47	121	133	136	157	111
Suriname	149	113	136	149	54	159	144	110
Belize	150	78	154	163	159	145	78	88
Angola	151	150	66	101	94	167	169	136
DR Congo	152	167	76	159	61	144	148	150
Maldives	153	142	166	155	117	166	117	44
Papua New Guinea	154	131	120	110	106	156	166	121
Guinea	155	156	81	146	83	149	164	151
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	156	68	146	147	147	123	163	146
Djibouti	157	132	169	162	129	127	121	104
Laos	158	105	145	115	134	142	155	153
Bahamas	159	51	151	160	149	147	141	162
Eritrea	160	168	148	156	35	169	135	168
Yemen	161	169	133	168	156	157	71	126
Afghanistan	162	138	118	166	163	154	108	143
Uzbekistan	163	141	144	143	167	130	151	122
Iraq	164	165	149	165	164	164	85	118
Sudan	165	135	161	167	162	122	120	144
Libya	166	148	132	164	169	150	139	114
Central African Republic	167	163	131	169	165	116	127	149
Mauritania	168	126	153	145	157	139	165	147
Syria	169	155	165	154	161	168	134	167

What is the best country to live in the world index?

Due to the country's quality of life rating, the country of Finland is ranked highest when it comes to the best places to live.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Good Country Index