- U.S. News & World Report released its rankings for the best countries to invest in this year.
- Those rankings were determined by 7,000 worldwide business decision makers who scored each country on eight attributes, including entrepreneurship, economic stability, and favorable tax environment.
- The list differs greatly from last year’s; three of this year’s top five countries were not even ranked last year.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
To qualify as a country worthy of investment, certain standards must be met.
A World Bank Group report in 2011 highlighted four factors – the country’s people, environment, relationships, and framework – that propel both individuals and corporations to invest in a given country’s natural resources, markets, technologies, or brands.
Guided by this report, U.S. News & World Report identified the best countries to invest in for 2019.
To determine the overall list, U.S. News & World Report surveyed over 21,000 people worldwide about 80 different countries, measuring them on 65 different attributes, including cultural influence, entrepreneurship, and quality of life.
Read more: The 20 best countries around the world to live as an expat, ranked
U.S. News focused on just eight of the 65 attributes: entrepreneurship, economic stability, favorable tax environment, innovation, skilled labor, technological expertise, dynamism, and corruption. Responses from over 7,000 survey participants - who act as decision makers in business around the globe - were then used to determine the ranking.
The most recent survey produced a completely different ranking last year; in 2018, the top five countries for investment were the Philippines, Indonesia, Poland, Malaysia, and Singapore. See below for this year's rankings, with the country's population and GDP (from U.S. News & World Report) and the GDP growth percentage in 2018 (from The World Bank).
20. Brazil
Population: 209.3 million
Total GDP: $2.1 trillion
GDP growth: 1.1%
19. Italy
Population: 60.6 million
Total GDP: $1.9 trillion
GDP growth: 0.9%
18. Indonesia
Population: 264.0 million
Total GDP: $1.0 trillion
GDP growth: 5.2%
17. Lithuania
Population: 2.8 million
Total GDP: $47.2 billion
GDP growth: 3.5%
16. Russia
Population: 144.5 million
Total GDP: $1.6 trillion
GDP growth: 2.3%
15. Denmark
Population: 5.8 million
Total GDP: $324.9 billion
GDP growth: 1.4%
14. Singapore
Population: 5.6 million
Total GDP: $323.9 billion
GDP growth: 3.1%
13. Malaysia
Population: 31.6 million
Total GDP: $314.5 billion
GDP growth: 4.7%
12. Latvia
Population: 1.9 million
Total GDP: $30.3 billion
GDP growth: 4.8%
11. New Zealand
Population: 4.8 million
Total GDP: $205.9 billion
GDP growth: 2.8%
10. Chile
Population: 18.1 million
Total GDP: $277.1 billion
GDP growth: 4.0%
9. Slovenia
Population: 2.1 million
Total GDP: $48.8 billion
GDP growth: 4.5%
8. Vietnam
Population: 95.5 million
Total GDP: $223.9 billion
GDP growth: 7.1%
7. Qatar
Population: 2.6 million
Total GDP: $167.6 billion
GDP growth: 1.4%
6. Poland
Population: 38.0 million
Total GDP: $524.5 billion
GDP growth: 5.1%
5. India
Population: 1.3 billion
Total GDP: $2.6 trillion
GDP growth: 7.0%
4. Luxembourg
Population: 599,400
Total GDP: $62.4 billion
GDP growth: 2.6%
3. Costa Rica
Population: 4.9 million
Total GDP: $57.1 billion
GDP growth: 2.7%
2. Saudi Arabia
Population: 32.9 million
Total GDP: $683.8 billion
GDP growth: 2.2%
1. Uruguay
Population: 3.5 million
Total GDP: $56.2 billion
GDP growth: 1.6%
