In the latest U.S. News ranking to determine which is the best country in the world, Germany has finished in seventh place - quite a drop from its former silver medal glory of 2022.

2023 Best Countries Ranking by U.S. News 

For eight years, U.S. News has been publishing its Best Countries Ranking each autumn. The ranking is put together based on a proprietary survey of over 17.000 people in 36 international countries. The performance of 87 different countries is evaluated under categories like entrepreneurship, quality of life, power and heritage.

This year, entrepreneurship was one of the most heavily weighted categories, with U.S. News executive editor Morgan Felchner saying that “a nation’s economy, as well as its potential for success in key areas such as trade, travel and investment, hinges in part on how it is perceived globally.” 

Germany praised for its well-developed digital infrastructure

Germany still made it into the top 10 countries in this year's ranking, but slumped some five places from second to seventh. The federal republic performed particularly well in the entrepreneurship and quality of life categories.

In what will seem like a curious conclusion to anyone who lives in Germany, U.S. News awarded the country a score of 87,3 / 100 for “well-developed digital infrastructure”. With German administrative employees spending up to eight hours a day printing online applications for physical filing and only 12,3 percent of households in Germany having access to fibre optic internet connections, this claim seems like somewhat of a Schnapsidee. A bit more on the money, U.S. News gave Germany 100 out of 100 for its highly-skilled workers and 98,5 for having a large population of people who are educated. 

Describing Germany’s “open door migration policy”, and praising its digital infrastructure and entrepreneurial spirit, U.S. News seemed to have a little more faith in the state of the nation than its own chancellor. It turns out that everything U.S. News thinks Germany does really well, Olaf Scholz thinks is in need of urgent improvement. Coinciding with the ranking’s publication on September 6, Scholz announced his Deutschland-Pakt (Germany Pact), underlining the coalition government’s plan to recruit more foreign workers, modernise administration and lower the economic burden on companies.

Not included in Scholz’s plan? Making Germany more sexy. According to the US publication Germany is at a crisis point when it comes to sexiness, banking a meagre 1,2 out of 100 in the 2023 ranking. Better luck next year.

Top 10 best countries in the world, according to U.S. News

Just south of the border, Switzerland was crowned as the best country in the world for the second consecutive year and the sixth time overall. Canada was named the second-best country in the world, while Sweden climbed two spots to round out the top three. Australia also rose in the rankings to take spot four, and the United States was named the fifth-best country in the world. New Zealand and the Netherlands also returned to the top 10 after dropping out in last year’s ranking. 

Digging down into the subcategories, things look slightly different: when it comes to quality of life, Sweden took the top spot. In the category “adventure”, Brazil was named number one. The “movers” category was won by the United Arab Emirates, while the United States was named the “most powerful” country in the world. New Zealand took the crown for “racial equality” and Sweden was named the top country for “green living”. 

The top 10 best countries in the world, according to the 2023 U.S. News ranking, are as follows:

1. Switzerland
2. Canada
3. Sweden
4. Australia
5. United States
6. Japan
7. Germany
8. New Zealand
9. United Kingdom
10. Netherlands

For the full ranking, visit the U.S. News website.