Canada has ranked 4th in the updated U.S. News country rankings for 2024—achieving an overall indexed score of 94.1.
Notable performances around scoring factors for quality of life, entrepreneurship, social purpose, and agility helped contribute to the country’s strong ranking.
This year, Switzerland took the top spot with an overall indexed score of 100. The top ten countries for this year’s rankings and their indexed scores are presented below:
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| Countries | 2024 Ranking | Indexed score |
|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | 1 | 100.00 |
| Japan | 2 | 96.6 |
| The United States of America | 3 | 94.2 |
| Canada | 4 | 94.1 |
| Australia | 5 | 92.9 |
| Sweden | 6 | 91.7 |
| Germany | 7 | 90.6 |
| The United Kingdom | 8 | 87.9 |
| New Zealand | 9 | 86.0 |
| Denmark | 10 | 85.2 |
Canada has placed in the U.S. News’ top five best countries for the last four years. Last year Canada placed second in the overall country rankings. Despite continued strong performance, Canada’s ranking drop was largely attributable to dips in “open for business”, “heritage” and “entrepreneurship” scores; while strong performance increases in “movers”, “social purpose”, and “adventure” scores helped the country remain among the top five ranked overall.
How does U.S. News rank countries?
The U.S. News Rankings assess 73 attributes of each country, based on a collection of survey responses of “engaged citizens”. These attributes were then grouped along 10 themes:
- Movers: Considers to what extent a country is viewed as different, dynamic, and unique by survey respondents;
- Quality of life: Incorporates affordability, job market, economic stability, family-friendliness, income equality, political stability, safety, education system performance, and health system performance scores;
- Entrepreneurship: Incorporates connectedness to the rest of the world, educated and skilled labour force population scores, access to entrepreneurial opportunities, opportunities for innovation, ease of access to capital, presence of technological expertise, implementation of transparent business practices, development of digital and traditional infrastructure, and development of legal frameworks;
- Agility: Considers the extent to which a country is viewed as adaptable, dynamic, modern, progressive, and responsive by survey respondents;
- Social purpose: Incorporates the extent to which a country cares about human rights, animal rights, environmental issues, gender equality, religious freedoms, property rights, social justice—as well as the presence of trustworthy institutions, well-distributed political power, and racial equity;
- Open for business: Considers the extent to which a country is bureaucratic, corrupt, features cheap manufacturing costs, a favorable tax environment, and transparent government practices in relation to established businesses opening a branch or office in the country;
- Cultural influence: incorporates considerations around the global cultural significance of a country’s entertainment and culture, in addition to the extent to which a country is viewed as fashionable, modern, trendy, prestigious, and as having strong consumer brands;
- Adventure: Considers the extent to which a country is viewed as friendly, fun, good for tourism, scenic, and having a pleasant climate;
- Power: Considers the extent to which a country is viewed as a leader on the world stage, economically and politically influential, having strong military and international partnerships; and
- Heritage: Considers the extent to which a country is viewed as being culturally accessible, having a rich history, great food, and cultural and geographical attractions.
The above diagram shows the composite scoring factors used by US News to construct their overall country rankings. Smaller scoring criteria (shown on the outside of the circle) are grouped along 10 larger themes, which are shown towards the center of the diagram.
How does Canada rank along these factors?
The table below breaks down Canada’s composite scores along the themes highlighted in the previous section.
| Ranking Theme | Score | Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| Adventure | 57.5 | #16 |
| Agility | 89.2 | #2 |
| Cultural Influence | 52.6 | #16 |
| Entrepreneurship | 81.9 | #6 |
| Heritage | 41.1 | #30 |
| Movers | 27.2 | #43 |
| Open for Business | 79.8 | #15 |
| Power | 41.2 | #13 |
| Quality of Life | 94.2 | #5 |
| Social Purpose | 97.8 | #3 |
In addition, Canada ranks well on many other rankings conducted by U.S. News. The country ranked:
- 2nd overall among the best countries to headquarter a corporation (the only country in the top ten outside of Europe and Asia);
- 4th overall among countries with the best education systems;
- 5th overall among countries with the most racial equity*;
- 5th overall among countries with the most perceived transparency (the only country outside of Europe to be on the list);
- 6th overall among countries where people could have a comfortable retirement*;
- 6th overall among the best countries to raise a child*;
*For these rankings Canada was the only country outside of the Europe and Australasia to be featured on the list.
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