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In a world of almost 200 countries, Australia has just been named the 14th best on the planet. That’s not too shabby for a nation of 28 million people (and 35 million kangaroos).
This ranking comes from the highly respected 2026 Best Countries list, released by the U.S. News & World Report. Now in its tenth year, the global authority adopted a new approach, trading subjective opinion surveys for an objective, data-driven methodology. They evaluated 100 nations on 100 different data indicators across eight categories, ranging from governance and economic development to health, infrastructure and natural environment. They even added 24 new subcategories to measure national well-being, ensuring the results reflect quality of life beyond the balance sheets.
Switzerland claims the crown as the world’s best country for 2026, driven by its number one rankings in economic development and governance. Europe dominates the overall rankings, accounting for 18 out of the top 25 countries, with Denmark, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands rounding out the top five.
Australia is the highest-ranked country outside of Europe in 2026, landing 14th overall. This puts us ahead of the only other non-European countries in the top 25, including Singapore (16th), Japan (17th), the United States (18th), Canada (19th), South Korea (20th) and New Zealand (21st).
So, how did Australia perform across the board? Our standout success was in the health category, where we placed sixth, thanks to our public health preparedness, healthcare, and mortality and longevity rates. We also showed strong global results for opportunity (11th), driven by robust labour and business environments, and governance (12th), thanks to our passport strength and low corruption.
While Australia also cracked the top 20 for economic development (19th), culture and tourism (18th), and civic health (17th), our overall score was held back by lower rankings in infrastructure and natural environment.
You can check out the full 2026 Best Countries ranking here or see a snapshot of the overall top 25 below.
The 25 best countries in the world for 2026, according to U.S. News & World Report:
- Switzerland
- Denmark
- Sweden
- Germany
- Netherlands
- Norway
- United Kingdom
- Finland
- Luxembourg
- Austria
- Belgium
- France
- Ireland
- Australia
- Iceland
- Singapore
- Japan
- United States
- Canada
- South Korea
- New Zealand
- Czech Republic
- Spain
- Italy
- Slovenia