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Sub-region of Oceania · Country Index 2026

Australia and New Zealand

How are the countries of Australia and New Zealand doing?

Australia and New Zealand’s two placed countries are New Zealand, joint 17th of 178 in the Country Index 2026, and Australia, 24th. The region’s median is the better of the two, 17th, which places the region 3rd of 21 sub-regions.

Australia and New ZealandUN M49 053

Australia and New Zealand, shown in red on a map of the world

17th

median position of 178 · 3rd of 21 sub-regions

Oceania →median 70th

01Who is in it

The countries of Australia and New Zealand

Alphabetical, with each country’s own banner photograph. The position is its place in the whole world ranking, never within the region.

02The region

About Australia and New Zealand

The region's two largest economies and land masses.

Australia and New Zealand form a sub-region of two countries: an island continent and a pair of large islands in the south-western Pacific. Australia is mostly flat and dry, with most of its people on the eastern and south-eastern coasts; New Zealand is mountainous and green, shaped by volcanoes and glaciers.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have lived in Australia for tens of thousands of years, and Māori settled New Zealand around the thirteenth century. Both countries were colonised by Britain and became self-governing in the early twentieth century, and both keep close ties with each other and with the Pacific islands to their north and east.

03Where

Australia and New Zealand on the map

Each member shaded by its position in the Country Index 2026, darkest for the best placed; the countries across its land borders in grey. Hover a country for its position, or select it to open its profile.

Country Index position: 1st178thMember, not placedAcross the border, another regionNot a country this site tracks

04Country Index 2026

Where Australia and New Zealand’s countries place

Best placed first. Every position is a place in the whole world ranking of 178, never a second list within the region; “=” marks a position shared with another country. Hover the ⓘ for where a country would sit if any one key statistic were dropped.

The full Country Index 2026
Australia and New Zealand’s 2 placed countries by their Country Index 2026 position, best placed first.
In regionCountryIn the world1st178th
1New Zealand17 / 178between 13th and 22nd if any one key were dropped · standings on 15 of 16 topics
2Australia24 / 178between 20th and 27th if any one key were dropped · standings on 16 of 16 topics

Australia and New Zealand among the 21 sub-regions with a median

3rd of 21. Nothing is weighted by population or size.

  1. Northern Europe6thPlaced countries run from Denmark 2nd to Latvia 25th.
  2. Western Europe10thPlaced countries run from Switzerland 1st to France 19th.
  3. Australia and New Zealand17thPlaced countries run from New Zealand 17th to Australia 24th.
  4. Northern America17thPlaced countries run from Canada 17th to United States 37th.
  5. Eastern Asia23rdPlaced countries run from South Korea 14th to Mongolia 73rd.
  6. Southern Europe32ndPlaced countries run from Slovenia 12th to Bosnia and Herzegovina 63rd.
  7. Eastern Europe39thPlaced countries run from Czechia 11th to Russia 68th.
  8. Polynesia70thPlaced countries run from Samoa 70th to Tonga 85th.
  9. South America74thPlaced countries run from Uruguay 34th to Venezuela 137th.
  10. Caribbean78thPlaced countries run from Barbados 63rd to Haiti 169th.
  11. Central America81stPlaced countries run from Costa Rica 40th to Nicaragua 134th.
  12. Western Asia93rdPlaced countries run from Cyprus 35th to Yemen 176th.
  13. South-eastern Asia95thPlaced countries run from Singapore 26th to Myanmar 153rd.
  14. Central Asia100thPlaced countries run from Kazakhstan 60th to Turkmenistan 148th.
  15. Southern Asia100thPlaced countries run from Bhutan 44th to Afghanistan 172nd.
  16. Melanesia106thPlaced countries run from Fiji 62nd to Papua New Guinea 138th.
  17. Southern Africa116thPlaced countries run from South Africa 102nd to Eswatini 140th.
  18. Northern Africa127thPlaced countries run from Tunisia 107th to Libya 174th.
  19. Eastern Africa143rdPlaced countries run from Mauritius 46th to Somalia 177th.
  20. Western Africa144thPlaced countries run from Cabo Verde 74th to Guinea-Bissau 168th.
  21. Middle Africa161stPlaced countries run from São Tomé and Príncipe 104th to Chad 175th.
  22. Micronesia—
  23. Oceania, the whole continent70th
  24. The world’s midpoint88th
1st178thmedian

The square is each region’s median position; the grey bar runs from its best-placed to its lowest-placed country. Hover a row for their names.

05By subject

Topic by topic

Every country’s position on each topic, its shade darker the higher it sits in that topic’s field; select a cell for the country’s page on the topic. Strongest for Australia and New Zealand: Democracy & Civil Liberties, 1st of 22 sub-regions. Weakest: Environment & Sustainability, 15th of 21.

All topics
Australia and New Zealand: each country’s position on each topic, with the region’s median and its place among sub-regions.
Democracy & Civil LibertiesDevelopment & Human CapitalEducation & KnowledgeEnergyGender & EqualityGovernance & InstitutionsPeace & SecurityWork & LabourDigital & TechnologyEconomy & InnovationRisk & ResilienceHealth & WellbeingMobility & TradeFood & AgricultureEnvironment & SustainabilityPoverty & InequalityMoney & Public FinancePeople & Population
New Zealand5 of 19816 of 19638 of 17112 of 1939 of 1832 of 1945 of 17723 of 18250 of 19829 of 17637 of 19252 of 20049 of 14771 of 175122 of 181No standingNo standingNo standing
Australia24 of 19811 of 1968 of 17177 of 19323 of 1837 of 19451 of 1774 of 18220 of 19827 of 17664 of 19237 of 20038 of 14739 of 175127 of 18166 of 159No standingNo standing
Region median5th of 19811th of 1968th of 17112th of 1939th of 1832nd of 1945th of 1774th of 18220th of 19827th of 17637th of 19237th of 20038th of 14739th of 175122nd of 181———
Among sub-regions1st of 221st of 221st of 211st of 221st of 211st of 221st of 201st of 214th of 224th of 214th of 225th of 225th of 216th of 2115th of 21———

Columns run from the topic where Australia and New Zealand places best among sub-regions to the one where it places lowest. A region’s median on a topic needs at least two members with a standing; a hatched cell has no standing.

06In numbers

Australia and New Zealand in 6 numbers

Each line is every country in the world at its published value; Australia and New Zealand’s countries are the red ticks, and the dashed line is the world median. There is no regional average: a region has countries, not a life expectancy of its own.

All statistics

  • Population

    people · log scale

    UN DESA Population Division · 2023 · 222 countries · no better end

    New ZealandAustralia496world median 6,541,4131,438,069,596

  • Land area

    km²

    FAO · 2024 · 221 countries · no better end

    New ZealandAustralia0.4world median 87,58916,376,870

  • GDP per person

    international $, PPP · log scale

    World Bank Group · 2025 · 185 countries · higher is better

    New ZealandAustralia1,067world median 17,265139,593

  • Life expectancy

    years at birth

    UN DESA Population Division · 2023 · 222 countries · higher is better

    New ZealandAustralia54.46world median 74.6386.37

  • Human development

    HDI, 0–1

    UNDP Human Development Report Office · 2023 · 193 countries · higher is better

    New ZealandAustralia0.388world median 0.7620.972

  • Unemployment

    % of the labour force

    ILO · 2025 · 182 countries · lower is better

    AustraliaNew Zealand0.13world median 5.08434.2
Every value for Australia and New Zealand’s countries
CountryPopulation 2023Land area 2024GDP per person 2025Life expectancy 2023Human development 2023Unemployment 2025
Australia26,451,124rank 547,688,287rank 660,194rank 2383.92rank 90.958rank 74.09rank 114
New Zealand5,172,836rank 123263,310rank 7548,233rank 3882.09rank 320.938rank 175.076rank 92

07In records

Australia and New Zealand in records

The member at the extreme of each statistic, read from its newest edition. Where two members share the top, no record is named.

08Latest editions

Who rose and fell in the published ranks

The moves of Australia and New Zealand’s countries between each report’s two newest editions, in the publisher’s own ranks. A report whose field changed by more than 5% is left out.

Ranks as published by UNDP Human Development Report Office in the Human Development Index: reference years 2022 (192 countries ranked) → 2023 (193 ranked), both from its 2025 report.

Improved most

rank before → after
  1. Australia8 → 7+1

Declined most

rank before → after

No country moved this way.

Every country in the Human Development Index

09Keep reading

Explore further

All regions

The rest of Oceania

10Method

Questions, method and sources

Which countries are in Australia and New Zealand?

2 countries and territories: Australia and New Zealand. Membership follows the United Nations’ M49 classification.

Which country in Australia and New Zealand is placed highest?

New Zealand, placed joint 17th of 178 in the Country Index 2026. Australia is placed lowest, 24th. 2 of the region’s 2 countries and territories are placed; the rest hold standings on too few topics.

How does Australia and New Zealand compare with other regions?

Its median is 17th of 178 — with two placed countries, the better of the two positions, which places it 3rd of 21 sub-regions. The median across Oceania is 70th. The middle of the whole field is 88th. Nothing is weighted by population or size.

How many people live in Australia and New Zealand?

31,623,960 in 2023, the sum of the UN DESA Population Division’s figures for its 2 countries and territories.

What is the largest country in Australia and New Zealand?

By land area, Australia: 7,688,287 square kilometres (2024). By population, Australia: 26,451,124 people (2023).

How a region’s figure is made
  1. Membership. Countries belong to regions by the United Nations’ M49 classification; each country declares its sub-region, and a continent is the sum of its sub-regions.
  2. Positions. Each country’s position is its Country Index 2026 result, unchanged. This page slices the world ranking by place; it does not re-rank anyone.
  3. The median. A region’s figure is the median of its placed countries’ positions: half sit at or above it, half below. With an even number of placed countries it takes the better of the two middle positions, since there is no country at a half place. Countries the index does not place are named, never counted in.
  4. A place among peers. Continents are compared with continents and sub-regions with sub-regions, never a part with the whole that contains it; regions sharing a median share a place. Nothing is weighted by population or size, and population and land area are the only figures ever added up.

Where the regions come from

United Nations Statistics Division, Standard country or area codes for statistical use (M49). M49’s middle level (Sub-Saharan Africa; Latin America and the Caribbean) is left out, so every sub-region sits directly under its continent. Kosovo, Northern Cyprus and Somaliland are not in M49 and are placed by geography.

Where the positions come from

Every position is a country’s result in the Country Index 2026 or one of its topics, unchanged. The population and land-area figures are the UN DESA Population Division’s and the FAO’s, added up and shown with their year; every other statistic names its publisher beside its numbers.

Photographs

Each country’s own banner from its profile: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.

Cite this page

Nations Inquiry (2026). Australia and New Zealand: countries, population and rankings, Country Index 2026. https://nationsinquiry.com/regions/australia-new-zealand

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