Independent rankings built from public data — every figure traceable to the body that published it.
Country profiles
224 profiles, each showing where a country leads and lags across the world’s published statistics, how it has moved, and how it compares with its neighbours. Every rank belongs to the publisher that printed it.
01Start here
8 of the most-read profiles, from 4 continents. Each position is a place in the Country Index, with the size of the field it is a place in.

United States
Northern America
Photo: Stefano Brivio · CC BY 2.0, greyscale

China
Eastern Asia
Photo: Seebeer Edited by Nicholasjf21 · Public domain, greyscale

India
Southern Asia
Photo: Kumaravels derivative work: ויקיג'אנקי · CC BY 2.5 in, greyscale

Brazil
South America
Photo: Luis Rizo derivative work: Jjtkk · Public domain, greyscale

Nigeria
Western Africa
Photo: Slashme · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale

Germany
Western Europe

Japan
Eastern Asia
Photo: JurriaanH · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale

Pakistan
Southern Asia
Photo: Shikari7 · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
02Every placed country
Darker is placed higher. Hover a country for its position, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent and its sub-regions.
55 countries · 53 placed
HighestMauritius46th
48 countries · 32 placed
HighestCanada17th, joint
52 countries · 46 placed
HighestSouth Korea14th
49 countries · 39 placed
HighestSwitzerland1st
21 countries · 8 placed
HighestNew Zealand17th, joint
03Records
One country at the extreme of each statistic, read from its newest edition. Where countries tie at the top, no record is named.
Largest by land area
16,376,870
square kilometres
Highest GDP per person
139,593
international $ at purchasing power parity
Longest expected schooling
21.69
years a child starting school can expect
Most innovative economy
65.96
on WIPO’s Global Innovation Index
Most complex economy
1.729
on the Economic Complexity Index
Lowest unemployment
0.13
% of the labour force
04A–Z
The number beside each name is its position in the Country Index 2026 — ours, made by averaging how a country stands across the topics. Countries the index does not place show how many statistics we hold instead.
Showing 224 of 224 countries
05Method
224. Every country or territory with at least one current reading in the statistics we hold has a profile, and 178 of them are placed in the Country Index 2026.
Switzerland, of 178 countries placed. A position is this site’s own, made by averaging how a country stands across 16 topics — never a publisher’s rank.
The index needs a standing on at least 12 of its 16 topics. 46 profiles fall short — usually small territories that few publishers measure. Their profiles still show every reading the publishers do give.
Wikimedia Commons. Every photo is checked on import and used only under public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, with the photographer and licence credited beside it. The site shows photographs in greyscale.