Ireland is the best country in the world, new survey suggests
Republic’s contribution to humanity sees it take top spot in first Good Country Index
Ireland
is the best country in the world and that’s a fact. Kind of. We may
struggle economically, politically and militarily while our sporting
achievements of late are best described as modest and our Eurovision
performances have been abysmal but we’re still as good as it gets
according to a new survey.
The Republic’s overall contribution to humanity and the planet has seen it take the top spot in the very first Good Country Index
which was published this morning. The index ranks nations according to
their overall contribution to humanity using 35 separate indicators from
the United Nations, the World Bank and other international institutions spread across seven categories.
Ireland
secured the overall top spot by finishing in the top 10 in four of the
seven categories and it was six places ahead of the UK and 20 ahead of
the US. Iraq, Libya and Vietnam all came joint bottom of the survey.
The Good Country Index
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British policy adviser Simon Anholt is behind the index and he described the idea as “pretty simple”.
He
said the intention was to “measure what each country on earth
contributes to the common good of humanity, and what it takes away.
Using a wide range of data from the UN and other international
organisations, we’ve given each country a balance-sheet to show at a
glance whether it’s a net creditor to mankind, a burden on the planet,
or something in between.”
He stressed that his
survey was not intended to name and shame individual countries but to
recognise the importance of contributing to the greater good in a
globalised society. “Do [countries]exist purely to serve the interests
of their own politicians, businesses and citizens, or are they actively
working for all of humanity and the whole planet,” he asked.
The
list assesses the size of a country’s economy and its global
contributions to science and technology, culture, international peace
and security, world order, the planet and climate, prosperity and
equality as well as the health and well-being of humanity.
Ireland
claimed the number one spot in the ‘Equality and Prosperity’ category
and it was ranked fourth when it came to ‘World Order,’ seventh in
‘Culture,’ and ninth in the ‘Health and Wellbeing’ category.
The
news wasn’t so great in the ‘Science and Technology’ category where
Ireland came 20th while the country was 33rd in the ‘International Peace
and Security’ category. The top spot in that particular section was Egypt. In the ‘Planet and Climate’ section Ireland was ranked a poor 45th.
While
the US likes to consider itself top dog, it was dragged down to 21st
place thanks to poor scores on international peace and security.
Outside of western Europe and the English-speaking world, the highest ranked country was Costa Rica, which finished in 22nd place, while Chile was ranked in 24th place. The African nation deemed to contribute most was Kenya in 26th place.
The index is set to be updated annually and the bad news for Ireland is that things can only get worse from here on in.
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