With Japan continually praised for its safety and tourist appeal, it comes as no surprise that the country is also listed as one of the best countries in the world. In a recent study by U.S. News & World Report, Japan was ranked as one of the world’s top ten countries for 2023.
Now in its eighth year, the U.S. News Best Countries ranking analysed 87 countries and scored them based on 73 attributes. These attributes were grouped into ten categories: adventure, agility, cultural influence, entrepreneurship, heritage, movers, open for business, power, quality of life and social purpose. Then, more than 17,000 people worldwide participated in the survey, which resulted in this year’s ranking.
This year, Japan ranked in sixth place with an overall score of 95.1. The best country in the world title goes to Switzerland, which received a perfect score of 100. This is followed by Canada (No 2, 99.3), Sweden (No 3, 98.9), Australia (No 4, 97.6) and the United States (No 5, 96.4). Following Japan to round up the top 10 are Germany (No 7, 94.8), New Zealand (No 8, 92.6), the United Kingdom (No 9, 92.4), and the Netherlands (No 10, 90.2).
Within the ten categories, Japan received a high score for entrepreneurship (95.2) and ranked third overall in this category, which examined attributes such as innovation, having an educated population, skilled labour force, technological expertise, well-developed digital infrastructure, and connections to the rest of the world.
The country also ranked highly for agility with a score of 86.3 (sixth overall), based on factors such as progressiveness, modernity and how adaptable the country is. Additionally, Japan received a score of 80.8 for its cultural influence (fifth overall). This took into consideration how fashionable, modern and trendy the country is as well as how culturally significant Japan is in terms of entertainment.
Japan still has room for improvement. Its lowest score of just 29.2 was for the social purpose category, which included attributes like caring for the environment, human rights, commitment to climate goals and gender equality.
For a more in-depth look at the best countries ranking, visit the website.
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