Sweden has been ranked as the most humanitarian nation by the Good Country Index, which essentially measures what each country on earth contributes to the common good of humanity.
The Scandinavian nation has been put in the top slot in the newest edition of the index which ranked a total of 162 countries for their major contributions to the global community.
“Sweden must be bored of coming top in every bloody country index but that’s the fact of the matter,” Simon Anholt, an independent policy adviser and the Index’s creator, told The Local.
Anholt compiled 35 separate categories in order to make the index, which eventually refined into seven major topics which are Science & Technology, Culture, International Peace & Security, World Order, Planet & Climate, Prosperity & Equality, and Health & Wellbeing.
Sweden grabbed the first ranking in two categories including ‘Health and Wellbeing’ and ‘Prosperity and Equality’, something Anholt defined as extraordinary.
“Ranking number one in two categories is pretty amazing. Health and Wellbeing covers things like contributions to resolving pandemics and sending doctors to international health disasters. Prosperity and Equality is mainly about trade: how much beneficial trade Sweden indulges in with other countries, and how easy it makes international transactions.”
Further, the country has also topped the lists of innovative countries as well, according to Anholt. Through its most remarkably research universities, Sweden was ranked third last September in the Global Innovative Index and since the last four years, it has not dropped outside the top three ranking.
“Sweden is in a bit of an elite when it comes to thinking about the rest of the world,” Anholt said. “The European model is one that trained countries to be much more outward looking, and Sweden is that more than the others.” According to the digital news publisher, the data collected came from United Nations and the World Bank.
Sweden’s ability to believe in the rights of equality and wellbeings categories are the ones that stand out the most as compared to the rest. For example, the parental leave police, is known as the most generous in the world as new moms and dads can take 480 days, 90 of are kept for the fathers just to promote bonding. They also allow their doctors to go abroad during health crises and provide aid by any means necessary.
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However, Sweden’s ranking for the International Peace and Security category, ranked 52nd and World Order was placed at 11th, even with its heavy arms exports being conducted.
The United States stood at the 21st position overall as its powerful category was Health and Wellbeing, for which it’s ranked 12th out of the 163 but even then, US was beat in every category by Sweden.
The man behind the index was asked how much opinion is made when it comes to the rankings, as he explained that they are simply objective as possible and were not designed to produce any specific income.
“There’s no opinion or perception involved at all. The numbers are all collected by UN agencies and other major international bodies. It’s as objective as anything like this can possibly be,” he insisted.
“It’s as objective as the United Nations could be, which is fairly objective. Most of these countries are UN member states so if they don’t like the data they should complain to the UN, not to us.”
