The City of Johannesburg, South Africa’s economic hub. Picture: Unsplash
South Africa ranks 40th in the list of Best Countries for 2024. That’s according to a survey of 17 000 people from across the globe surveyed from May 2022 to May 2023.
The list was released by US News & World Report, which ranked the countries using a a set of 73 country attributes or terms that can be used to describe a country that are also relevant to the success of a modern nation.
The news site reported that global marketing and communications services company WPP, along with its proprietary BAV brand analytics tool, and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania jointly created the model used to assess and rank countries.
“The rankings project is based on how global perceptions define countries in terms of a number of qualitative characteristics – impressions that have the potential to drive trade, travel and investment, and can directly affect national economies.
“The 2024 analysis covers perceptions of 89 nations,” said the news site.
When it comes to South Africa’s ranking, the country ranked 40th out of 89 countries in the 2024 Best Countries rankings.
The country follows Morocco, which is 39th on the list of best countries.
South Africa and Morocco are the only African countries in the top 50 of the list, meaning that when it comes to the best countries in Africa, Morocco ranks 1st while South Africa ranks 2nd.
Here are the top 10 best countries for 2024:
1. Switzerland
2. Japan
3. United States
4. Canada
5. Australia
6. Sweden
7. Germany
8. United Kingdom
9. New Zealand
10. Denmark