Belgium 10th ‘best country in the world’, says survey

Belgium is the 10th ‘best country in the world’, according to the first Good Country Index, which provides ‘a measure of what each country on earth contributes to the common good of humanity’.

The index is the result of a study of 125 countries in seven areas: science and technology, culture, international peace, world order, planet and climate, prosperity and equality and health and well-being. The study took information from 35 databases produced variously by the UN, international organisations or NGOs to draw up the index.

Belgium came top in the domain of ‘culture’, getting good marks for its cultural exports. It fared less well in terms of contributing to international peace, where it came 100th.

Ireland took top position in the index, showing good results in four out of 10 sub-categories. The Irish Times wrote in reaction to the news: “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 [the] survey.”

Finland took second place, followed by Switzerland, the Netherlands and New Zealand.