The latest Best Countries Ranking by U.S. News has named Germany the second best country in the world. The study uses people's perceptions of 73 “country attributes”, ranging from quality of life to cultural influence.

2022 U.S. News Best Countries Ranking

The U.S. News Best Countries Ranking assesses how 85 different countries are perceived across the globe. After surveying the opinions of 17.000 people from different backgrounds, the ranking is assembled based on how each nation is perceived in relation to 73 different "attributes". These are organised into 10 separate categories, which are weighted from most important (the top of this list) to least:

• Quality of Life
• Entrepreneurship
• Agility
• Social Purpose
• Movers
• Cultural Influence
• Open for Business
• Adventure
• Power
• Heritage

Within each of the above categories, people were asked questions ranging from how they rated the availability of jobs and quality of healthcare in each country, to how progressive and unique they believe a country's society is and the quality of their historical sites. Each country is then given a grade in each category, and a weighted average is calculated as the final score. 

Germany scores 98,0 overall in best countries ranking

Losing only to its Swiss neighbours, the annual U.S. News ranking has rated Germany as the second best country in the world.

Overall, Germany was rated highly in the "Agility" and "Open for Business" categories, with respondents citing the country's ability to adapt by respond to obstacles and changing circumstances and praising its economic opportunities. Entrepreneurship in the federal republic was also rated highly.

The country’s lowest ranking came at number 42 in the “Movers” category. The top 10 in this category was dominated by countries in the global south and judged based on “future growth" and a country's perceived ability to face challenges posed by the global economy. In another shortcoming, Germany was not by any means rated the friendliest place in the world, scoring a mere 31,9 points in the "Friendly" sub-category.

The best-perceived nations in the world in 2022

In all, these are perceived to be the best countries in the world in 2022:

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

For more information about how the ranking was calculated, check out the U.S. News website.