Good Country Index

The Good Country Index measures how much each of the 125 countries on the list contribute to the planet and to the human race through their policies and behaviours.^[1]

Description

The Index is a composite statistic of 35 data points which are mostly generated by the United Nations. These data points are combined into a common measure which gives an overall ranking and a ranking in seven categories such as Science and Technology, Culture, International Peace and Security, World Order, Planet and Climate, Prosperity and Equality, Health and Wellbeing.

The concept and the index itself were developed by Simon Anholt. The Index was built by Dr Robert Govers with support from several other organisations.^[2]

The three top countries in the list published in 2014 are Ireland, Finland and Switzerland.^[3] Nine of the top 10 countries in overall rankings are in Western Europe.^[4] The last three countries on the list ranked Iraq, Libya and Vietnam.

Methodology

The Index attempts to measure the global impacts of national policies and behaviours: what the country contributes to the global commons and what they take away. The Index utilizes 35 data points, five in each of seven categories. These data points are produced by the United Nations and other international agencies and a few by NGOs and other organisations. Countries receive scores on each indicator as a fractional rank (0=top rank, 1=lowest) relative to all countries for which data are available. The category rankings are based on the mean fractional ranks on the 5 indicators per category (subject to maximum 2 missing values per category). The overall rank is based on the average of the category ranks. This yields a common measure which gives an overall ranking, a ranking in each of the seven categories, and a balance-sheet for each country that shows at a glance how much it contributes to the world and how much it takes away.^[5]

Categories and indicators

Science, Technology & Knowledge

Number of foreign students studying in the country relative to GDP
Exports of periodicals, scientific journals and newspapers relative to GDP
Number of articles published in international journals (2009 latest data) relative to GDP
Number of Nobel prize winners relative to GDP
Number of International Patent Cooperation Treaty applications relative to GDP

Culture

Exports of creative goods (UNCTAD's Creative Economy Report categorisation) relative to GDP
Exports of creative services (UNCTAD's Creative Economy Report categorisation) relative to GDP
UNESCO dues in arrears as percentage of contribution (negative indicator)
Number of countries and territories that citizens can enter without a visa
Freedom of the press (based on mean score for Reporters without Borders and Freedom House index as a negative indicator)

International Peace and Security

Number of peacekeeping troops sent overseas relative to GDP
Dues in arrears to financial contribution to UN peacekeeping missions as percentage of contribution (negative indicator)
Attributed number of casualties of international organised violence relative to GDP (negative indicator)
Exports of weapons and ammunition relative to GDP (negative indicator)
Global Cyber Security Index score (negative indicator)

World Order

Percentage of population that gives to charity as proxy for cosmopolitan attitude
Number of refugees hosted relative to GDP
Number of refugees overseas relative to GDP (negative indicator)
Population growth rate (negative indicator)
Number of treaties signed as proxy for diplomatic action and peaceful conflict resolution

Planet and Climate

National Footprint Accounts Biocapacity reserve (2009)
Exports of hazardous waste relative to GDP (only 2008 and 2011 data available, so 2011 data used as negative indicator)
Organic water pollutant (BOD) emissions relative to GDP (2007 latest data as negative indicator)
CO₂ emissions relative to GDP (negative indicator)
Methane + nitrous oxide + other greenhouse gas (HFC, PFC and SF6) emissions relative to GDP (negative indicator)

Prosperity and Equality

Trading across borders (open trading performance compared to best practice; i.e. IFC distance to frontier score)
Number of aid workers and volunteers sent overseas relative to GDP
Fairtrade market size relative to GDP
Foreign Direct Investment outflow relative to GDP
Development cooperation contributions (aid) relative to GDP

Health and Wellbeing

Amount of wheat tonnes equivalent food aid shipments relative to GDP
Exports of pharmaceuticals relative to GDP
Voluntary excess contributions to World Health Organisation relative to GDP
Humanitarian aid contributions relative to GDP
Drug seizures (pure cocaine equivalent kilograms) relative to GDP

2014 Overall Rank

Rank	Country	Science and Technology	Culture	International Peace and Security	World Order	Planet and Climate	Prosperity and Equality	Health and Wellbeing
1	Ireland	20	7	33	4	45	1	9
2	Finland	7	18	53	12	14	3	12
3	Switzerland	6	32	71	10	16	2	10
4	Netherlands	18	2	97	3	23	8	2
5	New Zealand	10	25	37	17	7	41	17
6	Sweden	8	14	111	8	3	4	8
7	United Kingdom	1	12	94	9	30	9	6
8	Norway	40	24	58	7	4	14	16
9	Denmark	14	9	88	5	26	35	5
10	Belgium	15	1	100	16	56	5	3
11	France	12	26	92	18	10	28	15
12	Canada	28	20	106	14	2	30	4
13	Germany	11	5	109	1	29	33	18
14	Austria	2	4	104	2	43	24	31
15	Australia	16	38	89	13	6	36	14
16	Luxembourg	55	10	101	19	12	19	13
17	Iceland	24	37	27	15	1	101	44
18	Cyprus	3	35	86	21	22	37	49
19	Spain	37	23	120	24	24	49	1
20	Italy	38	22	102	11	44	65	19
21	United States	26	41	114	28	39	53	7
22	Costa Rica	61	64	35	25	19	42	76
23	Malta	64	3	66	6	36	99	50
24	Chile	52	47	42	27	18	31	114
25	Japan	46	44	77	56	11	71	33
26	Kenya	47	84	20	48	98	16	28
27	Singapore	21	39	80	121	20	7	58
28	Slovenia	17	17	87	23	68	111	26
29	Guatemala	91	57	29	76	42	21	39
30	Greece	34	36	65	33	32	87	71
31	Colombia	57	83	43	107	15	29	29
32	Bulgaria	19	27	79	36	80	70	55
33	Panama	81	43	70	30	37	44	66
34	Estonia	31	6	107	80	66	66	21
35	Portugal	42	19	116	44	48	61	51
36	Mauritius	69	33	40	32	122	27	63
37	Israel	5	40	81	68	35	63	103
38	Ghana	59	62	12	71	72	6	115
39	Ecuador	105	79	10	39	38	90	38
40	Zambia	90	85	21	47	21	11	124
41	Uruguay	104	58	5	35	13	94	95
42	Slovakia	43	21	110	49	51	69	62
43	Czech Republic	4	8	121	34	77	100	67
44	South Africa	29	60	15	31	102	121	56
45	Jamaica	65	59	23	62	87	51	72
46	Croatia	35	30	62	73	52	85	84
47	South Korea	30	34	119	45	71	60	65
48	Namibia	74	52	30	89	34	25	120
49	Brazil	75	49	83	37	5	123	52
50	Jordan	39	78	2	101	99	81	25
51	Trinidad and Tobago	76	42	25	64	110	22	86
52	Poland	32	16	105	26	83	83	81
53	Thailand	66	67	73	22	97	80	22
54	Paraguay	120	56	8	60	31	125	27
55	Macedonia	33	55	82	41	119	20	85
56	Tunisia	58	86	31	82	59	54	68
57	Argentina	67	46	55	29	25	105	112
58	Malaysia	49	28	113	87	73	10	91
59	Uganda	71	108	41	66	9	91	69
60	Moldova	44	65	46	51	115	84	54
61	Hungary	9	13	123	59	76	78	101
62	Serbia	23	31	98	52	124	52	79
63	Tanzania	113	74	3	43	93	102	32
64	Botswana	107	66	67	54	41	12	113
65	Romania	48	29	75	53	69	114	74
66	Mexico	70	73	91	69	84	47	30
67	Morocco	68	90	76	50	85	57	40
68	Egypt	45	80	1	85	111	88	61
69	Lithuania	25	11	125	58	57	109	90
70	Bosnia and Herzegovina	22	61	63	40	106	75	109
71	Mozambique	103	81	14	75	55	26	122
72	Armenia	50	98	39	72	95	15	110
73	Albania	101	54	95	65	50	18	99
74	Kyrgyzstan	72	103	47	84	114	17	47
75	Malawi	94	113	48	38	67	67	64
76	Lesotho	114	93	4	20	46	98	116
77	Georgia	63	77	51	102	105	13	87
78	Sri Lanka	87	97	54	55	90	23	94
79	Turkey	51	50	112	111	60	97	20
80	Kazakhstan	109	105	26	105	86	48	23
81	India	56	53	44	91	107	117	37
82	Belarus	36	63	108	63	118	74	46
83	Latvia	27	15	124	88	62	89	104
84	Lebanon	53	51	115	100	64	39	88
85	El Salvador	99	75	11	109	63	106	48
86	Peru	88	87	96	81	17	62	82
87	United Arab Emirates	82	45	74	122	61	76	53
88	Bolivia	116	100	22	42	78	115	41
89	Cameroon	73	120	13	70	70	45	125
90	Senegal	78	114	32	83	91	59	60
91	Bangladesh	100	94	52	67	117	55	34
92	Saudi Arabia	86	99	85	119	79	43	11
93	Kuwait	85	70	18	108	104	72	83
94	Honduras	92	72	19	99	75	110	75
95	Russia	41	68	90	106	88	112	42
96	Democratic Republic of the Congo	83	123	49	115	47	40	92
97	Togo	84	89	6	110	112	58	93
98	Madagascar	80	71	17	113	49	116	106
99	Ukraine	13	48	117	57	120	96	105
100	Oman	110	88	24	125	58	64	89
101	Dominican Republic	108	69	99	46	89	113	35
102	Congo	121	111	60	103	8	46	117
103	Nigeria	111	110	9	79	74	104	80
104	Laos	77	118	93	98	27	118	36
105	Sudan	118	125	118	96	54	32	24
106	Pakistan	106	109	61	104	108	38	43
107	China	54	91	59	94	96	108	70
108	Rwanda	102	121	56	120	40	34	102
109	Mongolia	62	96	38	114	101	50	121
110	Qatar	112	95	50	118	81	68	78
111	Algeria	79	102	45	90	109	122	57
112	Cambodia	119	101	28	117	53	92	98
113	Syria	96	104	57	92	113	73	77
114	Philippines	115	106	64	61	82	77	107
115	Iran	93	119	72	97	103	56	73
116	Yemen	98	122	69	86	100	93	45
117	Venezuela	117	117	34	77	33	124	118
118	Benin	97	115	7	78	121	107	96
119	Indonesia	122	92	36	95	92	103	97
120	Zimbabwe	60	82	68	112	125	82	119
121	Angola	124	112	78	116	28	95	108
122	Azerbaijan	95	107	122	74	94	86	100
123	Iraq	125	116	84	124	65	120	59
124	Vietnam	89	76	103	123	123	79	111
125	Libya	123	124	16	93	116	119	123

Criticism

Many have cited the Good Country Index as flawed and not representative of the actual country.^[6]

Notes and references

↑ Anholt, Simon; Govers, Robert. "About the Index". The Good Country Index. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
↑ Anholt, Simon; Govers, Robert. "Acknowledgements". The Good Country Index. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
↑ Anholt, Simon; Govers, Robert. "Overall Rankings". The Good Country Index. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
↑ Gander, Kashmira (24 June 2014). "Ireland is officially the 'best country in the world', says study". The Independent. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
↑ Anholt, Simon; Govers, Robert. "FAQ". The Good Country Index. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
↑ L.P., R.L.W. AND K.N.C. (24 June 2014). "The goodness of nations". The Fiscal Times. Retrieved 4 January 2016.

External links

Good Country Index Overall rankings
Data sources for Good Country Index
Grgurich, John (30 June 2014). "U.S. Trails Belgium in Ranking of Global Good. Seriously?". The Fiscal Times. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
Woollaston, Victoria (1 July 2014). "The kindest place on Earth? IRELAND". The Daily Mail. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
Macias, Amanda Marie and Skye Gould (1 July 2014). "Life More: Countries International Politics Environment These 30 Countries Contribute The Most Good To The World". Business Insider. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
Anholt, Simon (June 2014). "Simon Anholt: Which country does the most good for the world?". TEDSalon Berlin. Retrieved 3 July 2014.

Lists of countries by quality of life rankings

General	World Happiness Report Happy Planet Index Human Development Index by country inequality-adjusted Legatum Prosperity Index Good Country Index Satisfaction with Life Index Where-to-be-born Index

Economic	Net take-home pay Job security Long-term unemployment rate Home ownership rate Smartphone ownership rate

Environment	Ecological footprint Environmental Performance Index Environmental Vulnerability Index Natural disaster risk

Health	Cancer rate Health care quality Health expenditure covered by government Hospital beds Risk of death from non-communicable disease Suicide rate

Social/Political	Discrimination and violence against minorities Government transparency Global Slavery Index Global Terrorism Index Social Progress Index Time devoted to leisure and personal care Women's average years in school

List of international rankings List of top international rankings by country Lists by country

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