Malta is one of the ‘goodest’ countries in the world, according to a new survey that measures what 125 nations contribute to humanity. Maltese culture soared to third place in the global index, with Malta scoring highly for creativity, press freedom and freedom of movement.
Malta beat the UK, Germany, Canada, Australia and the United States in terms of culture, according to researchers. Ireland came top of the chart while the UK made it to the seventh place in the overall index but was crowned as the best country in the world for its contribution in terms of technology and science.
The Good Country Index, conceived by policy adviser Simon Anholt, analyses 35 different types of data from the UN, the World Bank and other international organisations and NGOs. Countries are ranked according to their contribution to science and technology, culture, international peace and security, world order, the planet and climate, prosperity and equality, and the health and well-being of humanity.
Mr Anholt said: “The idea of the Good Country Index is pretty simple; to measure what each country on earth contributes to the common good of humanity, and what it takes away.” Outside of Europe and the English-speaking world, the highest ranked country is Costa Rica, which comes in at 22nd place, while Chile was ranked in 24th place. The African nation which contributes most to the planet is Kenya, which, at 26th place, is the only country on the continent to break into the top 30.
Researchers said Kenya was an ‘inspiring example’ which showed that making a meaningful contribution to society is ‘by no means the exclusive province of rich “first-world” nations’.
Nevertheless, nine of the top 10 countries are in Europe, making it by far the ‘goodest’ part of the world. Belgium was the first country in the world for its contribution in terms of culture, while Spain came top in the health and well-being category. Russia ranked 95th, with its contributions to the global good close to those of Honduras and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, while India made it to the 81st place, well ahead of China at 107th place.
