“Where is it better to live?” The question is, obviously, subjective no matter how you look at it. But in the case that concerns us even more: the The Wharton School’s 2026 Best Countries Index takes as a basis How citizens around the world perceive the quality of life in different countries. That is, it is a study of brand perception and reputation (brand = country) that classifies the states that are considered to offer the highest quality of life in the world.
This index classifies 85 countries according to 73 attributes grouped into such varied categories that range from entrepreneurship or openness to business to power or cultural influence through the generic “quality of life” and in its preparation more than 15,000 people from 33 countries have been surveyed. The report is almost 100 pages long, but Visual Capitalist has summarized it in a much more condensed and visual graph.
Although the report has no trace of parameters such as GDP, investment in infrastructure, education or health, the brand image has its point: it makes the country more attractive for investment or tourism. For example, a button: the United Arab Emirates has gone from 17th place in 2024 to 10th place in 2026. Investing in improvements to its airport or the 2022 World Cup pays off. Simply put, having a country appear to have a high quality of life helps foreign investment or talent. Obviously, cultural biases and geopolitics also play a role.
What countries seems who have a better quality of life
The perceived quality of life. Visual Capitalist with data from the Wharton School
The list is dominated by Europe, with 20 of the top 30 positions occupied by states from the old continent and the Nordic countries at the top. As a curiosity, Canada sneaks into the bronze and you have to look much further down to find its neighbor the United States: it is in 27th place, the last of the G7 economies and surpassed by Australia, Singapore, Japan, the Arab Emirates or China, which is just above. At the bottom of the table are Ukraine, Iran and Lebanon, places devastated by war or sanctions.
The maxim “As in Spain you don’t live anywhere” seems to have its weight more within the Spanish state than outside: Spain scores with a 56.7 out of 100 scored by Sweden, placing it in 19th place out of the 30 best, immediately after Poland and just before France. It is far from the Nordic countries, but presiding over the Mediterranean countries. The lifestyle scores worse than the solidity of northern Europe. And despite this, Spain attracted almost 100 million tourists per year past, according to INE data.
In any case, it is worth remembering that this is an index of perception and not real living conditions, so stereotypes and biases outweigh the daily experience of those who live there. Furthermore, the sample is relatively small to evaluate over 85 countries.
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Cover | Visual Capitalist
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