Czech Republic Ranks 34th in Good Country Index

What is a “good” country?

The Good Country Index, now in its second publication, analyses the goodness of a country based on seven key areas relating to a country’s contribution to global common good.

Those areas include science & technology, culture, international peace and security, world order, planet & climate, prosperity & equality, and health and wellbeing.

In the latest version of the Good Country Index, released last week, Sweden tops the overall rankings, and 16 of the top 20 countries are in Europe (exceptions: Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan.)

The UK comes in at number 4, and the US 21. Two years ago, Ireland topped the chart; this year, they’re at number 11.

The Czech Republic? They’re at 34 out of 163 countries on the Good Country Index, sandwiched in-between Mauritius and Moldova.

Two years ago, however, the country came in at number 43, suggesting that the nation is becoming significantly “gooder.”

The Czech Republic’s highest scoring category was science & technology, coming in at third behind the UK and Austria. The category measures the number of international students in the country, journal exports and articles in international publications, Nobel prizes, and international patents.

The country’s lowest-scoring category? Prosperity & equality, where the Czech Republic ranked 152nd out of 163, coming in behind Iraq and Syria. This category measures open trading, UN volunteers, fairtrade market size, FDI outflows, and developmental assistance. Two years ago, the Czech Republic ranked 100.