Which are the Best Countries in The Americas?

https://www.humantruth.info/the_americas.html

By Vexen Crabtree 2013

#bahamas #barbados #canada #chile #democracy #haiti #human_development #nicaragua #st_vincent_&_the_grenadines #the_americas #uruguay #USA #venezuela

Social & Moral Development Index₁
Pos.		Lower is better Avg Rank₁
1	Canada	45.8
2	Uruguay	56.4
3	Costa Rica	57.5
4	Chile	61.7
5	USA	62.4
6	Argentina	70.7
7	Brazil	72.6
8	Barbados	75.5
9	Trinidad & Tobago	77.7
10	Peru	78.0
	...
33	Nicaragua	99.1
34	Honduras	101.9
35	Haiti	116.0
	The Americas Avg	81.5
	World Avg	88.9
q=35.

Out of all the countries in North America, Central America, the Caribbean and South America, who scores most highly on the Social and Moral Index?

There are 58 locations that fall within this category. By adding up all the known populations that fall within these locations, and summing their physical land areas, we can calculate population densities. Some islands and territories can end up being counted twice depending on how they are classified and divided up politically, but, mostly such errors involve only small populations. So, some data on this collection of countries in total:

Population: 1.0b
Land Area: 38 793 822km² (23% of Earth's land)
Independent States: 35
Other Territories: 23
Compare to other regions of the world

1. Summary Data

#economics #human_development #population #wealth

Pos.		Population (2018) Population₂	Social & Moral Lower is better Avg Rank₁	Gross National Income (2021) Higher is better PPP $₃	UN HDI (2021) Higher is better Value₃	Land Area (2011) km²₄	People Per km² Lower is better
1	Antigua & Barbuda	96 286	87.3	$16 792	0.788	440	219
2	Argentina	44.4m	70.7	$20 925	0.842	2 736 690	16
3	Bahamas	0.4m	87.7	$30 486	0.812	10 010	39
4	Barbados	0.3m	75.5	$12 306	0.790	430	667
5	Belize	0.4m	95.3	$6 309	0.683	22 810	17
6	Bolivia	11.4m	88.7	$8 111	0.692	1 083 300	10
7	Brazil	209.5m	72.6	$14 370	0.754	8 459 420	25
8	Canada	37.1m	45.8	$46 808	0.936	9 093 510	4
9	Chile	18.7m	61.7	$24 563	0.855	743 532	25
10	Colombia	49.7m	82.7	$14 384	0.752	1 109 500	45
11	Costa Rica	5.0m	57.5	$19 974	0.809	51 060	98
12	Cuba	11.3m	89.0	$7 879	0.764	106 440	107
13	Dominica	71 625	80.3	$11 488	0.720	750	96
14	Dominican Rep.	10.6m	85.9	$17 990	0.767	48 320	220
15	Ecuador	17.1m	79.3	$10 312	0.740	248 360	69
16	El Salvador	6.4m	87.8	$8 296	0.675	20 720	310
17	Grenada	0.1m	88.9	$13 484	0.795	340	328
18	Guatemala	17.2m	93.4	$8 723	0.627	107 160	161
19	Guyana	0.8m	96.8	$22 465	0.714	196 850	4
20	Haiti	11.1m	116.0	$2 848	0.535	27 560	404
21	Honduras	9.6m	101.9	$5 298	0.621	111 890	86
22	Jamaica	2.9m	81.6	$8 834	0.709	10 830	271
23	Mexico	126.2m	81.3	$17 896	0.758	1 943 950	65
24	Nicaragua	6.5m	99.1	$5 625	0.667	120 340	54
25	Panama	4.2m	83.3	$26 957	0.805	74 340	56
26	Paraguay	7.0m	96.7	$12 349	0.717	397 300	18
27	Peru	32.0m	78.0	$12 246	0.762	1 280 000	25
28	St Kitts & Nevis	52 441	91.6	$23 358	0.777	260	202
29	St Lucia	0.2m	92.0	$12 048	0.715	610	298
30	St Vincent & Grenadines	0.1m	85.5	$11 961	0.751	390	283
31	Suriname	0.6m	96.6	$12 672	0.730	156 000	4
32	Trinidad & Tobago	1.4m	77.7	$23 392	0.810	5 130	271
33	USA	327.1m	62.4	$64 765	0.921	9 147 420	36
34	Uruguay	3.4m	56.4	$21 269	0.809	175 020	20
35	Venezuela	28.9m	98.6	$4 811	0.691	882 050	33
36	Bermuda					50
37	Cayman Islands					240
38	Turks & Caicos Islands					950
39	Puerto Rico					8 870
40	US Virgin Islands					350
41	Greenland					410 450
42	Aruba					180
	The Americas Avg	28.6m	81.5	$16 628	0.75	923 662	31
	World Avg	39.0m	88.9	$20 136	0.72	620 450	63
q=42. No data: 16₅

Not showing due to lack of data: St Barthelemy.

This page only shows places where the database has enough data to be able to come to reasonable conclusions about each place. The main focus is on nation states, but, some distinct external territories may be listed if the database has enough information about them. Averages are calculated from as many valid data points as possible, meaning, that some territories and locations that are not listed above may still be used to calculate some of the average values. Some calculations only use Independent State data - hover the cursor over values to see hints.

Links:

2. Social and Moral Development

#charitability #climate_change #culture #education #equality #freedom #gender_equality #health #human_development #human_rights #modernity #morals #peace #politics #prejudice #technology #the_environment #the_internet #tolerance

Here are each country's overall scores across the categories that make up the Social and Moral Development Index. This is followed by lists of how each country scores in each individual data set.

Pos.		Social & Moral Lower is better Avg Rank₁	Responsibility Towards The Environment (2025) Lower is better Avg Rank₆	Culture, Peace & Inequality (2020) Lower is better Avg Rank₇	Modernity & Learning (2020) Lower is better Avg Rank₈	Health (2025) Lower is better Avg Rank₉	Human Rights, Equality & Tolerance (2025) Lower is better Avg Rank₁₀
1	Canada	45.8	87.2	23.1	21.8	72.0	14.7
2	Uruguay	56.4	43.2	52.6	57.6	88.4	35.5
3	Costa Rica	57.5	49.7	47.3	69.8	88.8	31.8
4	Chile	61.7	56.4	57.4	48.8	90.2	47.9
5	USA	62.4	103.8	54.1	26.4	78.7	38.6
6	Argentina	70.7	78.5	73.6	38.2	97.0	53.3
7	Brazil	72.6	70.2	83.5	52.8	86.5	60.3
8	Barbados	75.5	110.1	46.9	47.4	88.3	51.7
9	Trinidad & Tobago	77.7	94.5	62.1	74.5	89.8	66.2
10	Peru	78.0	56.7	87.3	68.2	100.3	68.7
11	Ecuador	79.3	65.6	88.1	74.8	95.6	67.2
12	Dominica	80.3	78.5	79.6	84.0	91.9	57.3
13	Mexico	81.3	66.3	87.2	64.5	107.1	66.2
14	Jamaica	81.6	88.6	69.5	94.6	101.6	64.1
15	Colombia	82.7	70.9	92.6	77.3	92.4	71.9
16	Panama	83.3	82.5	78.4	87.1	102.5	64.4
17	St Vincent & Grenadines	85.5	92.0	89.2	80.0	97.5	54.2
18	Dominican Rep.	85.9	65.0	84.9	87.1	109.8	78.0
19	Antigua & Barbuda	87.3	103.2		79.6	77.6	87.1
20	Bahamas	87.7	100.9	79.7	83.5	99.1	66.6
21	El Salvador	87.8	67.4	85.5	109.2	103.8	79.5
22	Bolivia	88.7	81.8	88.8	79.5	117.5	66.3
23	Grenada	88.9	125.0	93.0	43.4	85.8	86.1
24	Cuba	89.0	79.4	73.8	72.8	76.5	119.1
25	St Kitts & Nevis	91.6	96.9		48.8	106.5	79.1
26	St Lucia	92.0	103.6	84.2	86.3	102.8	69.9
27	Guatemala	93.4	66.1	84.2	121.5	117.4	81.5
28	Belize	95.3	91.3	78.8	89.1	122.8	73.4
29	Suriname	96.6	108.5	85.4	106.6	108.3	81.5
30	Paraguay	96.7	91.0	95.5	103.1	113.6	80.8
31	Guyana	96.8	87.4	84.9	122.5	106.6	90.6
32	Venezuela	98.6	86.1	113.1	89.0	109.3	88.1
33	Nicaragua	99.1	80.5	92.1	121.4	117.0	93.2
34	Honduras	101.9	84.6	96.1	132.2	121.0	81.1
35	Haiti	116.0	105.8	120.8	155.6	115.3	111.9
	The Americas Avg	81.5	92.66	79.19	81.34	92.66	71.80
	World Avg	88.9	84.93	78.12	86.31	97.60	86.55
q=35.

The Social and Moral Development Index concentrates on moral issues and human rights, violence, public health, equality, tolerance, freedom and effectiveness in climate change mitigation and environmentalism, and on some technological issues. A country scores higher for achieving well in those areas, and for sustaining that achievement in the long term. Those countries towards the top of this index can truly said to be setting good examples and leading humankind onwards into a bright, humane, and free future. See: Which are the Best Countries in the World? The Social and Moral Development Index.

For more, see:

"Which are the Countries for International Contributions, Creativity, Peace and Inequality?" by Vexen Crabtree (2025).

3. Demographics and Migration

#birth_control #demographics #dominica #emigration #health #immigration #life_expectancy #longevity #migration #overpopulation #population #the_americas

Population:

Pos.		Population (2018) Population₂	Life Expectancy (2021) Higher is better Years₃	Fertility Rate (2022) 2.0 is best₁₁	Old-Age Dependency Ratio (2016) Lower is better Per 100₁₂
1	Antigua & Barbuda	96 286	78.5	1.58	19.0
2	Argentina	44.4m	75.4	1.88	20.3
3	Bahamas	0.4m	71.6	1.38	22.4
4	Barbados	0.3m	77.6	1.63	35.6
5	Belize	0.4m	70.5	1.99	08.3
6	Bolivia	11.4m	63.6	2.58	12.7
7	Brazil	209.5m	72.8	1.63	19.9
8	Canada	37.1m	82.7	1.33	38.5
9	Chile	18.7m	78.9	1.54	27.0
10	Colombia	49.7m	72.8	1.69	18.8
11	Costa Rica	5.0m	77.0	1.52	22.6
12	Cuba	11.3m	73.7	1.45	36.2
13	Dominica	71 625	72.8	1.59
14	Dominican Rep.	10.6m	72.6	2.25	15.6
15	Ecuador	17.1m	73.7	2.00	16.0
16	El Salvador	6.4m	70.7	1.79	17.3
17	Grenada	0.1m	74.9	1.99	16.2
18	Guatemala	17.2m	69.2	2.35	09.5
19	Guyana	0.8m	65.7	2.37	15.0
20	Haiti	11.1m	63.2	2.77	09.6
21	Honduras	9.6m	70.1	2.34	11.0
22	Jamaica	2.9m	70.5	1.34	21.0
23	Mexico	126.2m	70.2	1.80	15.4
24	Nicaragua	6.5m	73.8	2.28	13.1
25	Panama	4.2m	76.2	2.30	17.7
26	Paraguay	7.0m	70.3	2.44	13.2
27	Peru	32.0m	72.4	2.16	15.5
28	St Kitts & Nevis	52 441	71.7	1.51
29	St Lucia	0.2m	71.1	1.39	19.9
30	St Vincent & Grenadines	0.1m	69.6	1.78	19.7
31	Suriname	0.6m	70.3	2.32	16.2
32	Trinidad & Tobago	1.4m	73.0	1.61	21.9
33	USA	327.1m	77.2	1.67	33.8
34	Uruguay	3.4m	75.4	1.48	26.8
35	Venezuela	28.9m	70.6	2.19	15.6
36	St Martin			2.39
37	Bermuda			1.30
38	British Virgin Islands			1.02
39	Turks & Caicos Islands			1.66
40	Puerto Rico			0.90
41	US Virgin Islands			2.00
42	Greenland			1.84
43	Aruba			1.18
44	Curaço			1.30
	The Americas Avg	28.6m	72.58	1.80	19.4
	World Avg	39.0m	71.28	2.47	18.3
q=44. No data: 14₁₃

Migration:

Covering North America, Central America and the Caribbean as well as South America, this region of the world has wildly variant migration rates across its disparate economies. The countries in The Americas with the highest percent of immigrants in their populations are Antigua & Barbuda (28.1%), Canada (21.5%) and Belize (16.0%), although the average for The Americas is 6%. And which countries are seeing most people emigrate? Dominica (104.8%), Grenada (65.5%) and St Kitts & Nevis (61.1%). The average continental emigration rate is 21%. Dominica is going through an era of mass deportations and high migration.

For full commentary and data, see:

Which Country in the Americas Has the Most Immigrants Or Emigrants?

4. Responsibility Towards The Environment

#biodiversity #climate_change #deforestation #energy #environmentalism #food #internationalism #meat #over-exploitation #sustainability #the_environment #veganism #vegetarianism

We have known for a long term that we must protect the environment from habitation destruction, over-exploitation, pollution, and the emissions that cause climate change. In 1998, Greenpeace wrote that "Environment can no longer be meaningfully separated from health, quality of life, democracy, education, economy or trade"₁₄. What countries have been doing the right thing, via legislation and national culture? All countries' current and historical approach towards the environment is gauged via 21 datasets, including multiple decades of data on its forested percent change 2000-2020, its environmental performance, energy to GDP efficiency, its sign-up rate to major international accords on protecting the environment, the rate of rational beliefs on the environment in the population, reducing annual meat consumption per person and its score on the Green Future Index.

The countries that do the best (Sri Lanka, Uruguay and Switzerland) tend to have avoided the excesses of early industrial countries, and have not yet repeated the same mistakes of environmental destruction - at least, not on the same scale. The regions with the best average results per country are Central America, South America and Scandinavia. The worst are Eritrea, The Vatican City and Timor-Leste (E. Timor), and the worst regions Micronesia, Australasia and Melanesia.

For more, see:

" Countries With the Best Environmental Records" by Vexen Crabtree (2025).

Pos.		Forest Area Change 2000-2020 Higher is better₁₅	Environmental Performance (2018) Higher is better₁₆	Energy to GDP Efficiency (2022) Lower is better Avg₁₇	International Accords on the Environment Higher is better Avg Rate	Rational Beliefs on the Environment (2011) Higher is better %₁₈	Meat Consumption (2021) Lower is better kg₁₉	Green Future Index (2023) Higher is better Score₂₀
1	Antigua & Barbuda	-14.6%	59.2		57%		85.8
2	Argentina	-14.9%	59.3	1.19	64%	78.3%	115.5	4.3
3	Bahamas	0.0%	55.0		60%		111.9
4	Barbados	0.0%	55.8	2.04	54%		86.4
5	Belize	-12.9%	57.8		57%	50.6%	56.6
6	Bolivia	-7.9%	56.0	1.11	62%	69.3%	78.4
7	Brazil	-10.1%	60.7	1.16	71%	77.1%	98.8	4.7
8	Canada	-0.3%	72.2	2.29	82%	41.2%	86.9	5.7
9	Chile	14.6%	57.5	1.11	71%	63.8%	97.8	5.1
10	Colombia	-5.8%	65.2	0.83	58%	70.3%	60.9	4.8
11	Costa Rica	6.2%	67.9	0.81	69%	74.2%	62.2	5.3
12	Cuba	31.0%	63.4	1.25	55%		49.6
13	Dominica	0.0%	59.4	1.20	54%		81.6
14	Dominican Rep.	8.5%	64.7	0.63	54%	50.2%	53.5	4.0
15	Ecuador	-9.2%	57.4	1.22	72%	57.2%	50.9	4.1
16	El Salvador	-13.8%	53.9	0.79	64%	66.8%	43.9
17	Grenada	0.0%	50.9		41%		78.6
18	Guatemala	-16.8%	52.3	0.74	66%	70.9%	42.1	3.6
19	Guyana	-0.8%	47.9		63%	30.1%	72.4
20	Haiti	-8.8%	33.7	0.63	25%	10.0%	21.6
21	Honduras	-6.3%	51.5	1.15	57%	48.1%	38.8
22	Jamaica	14.1%	58.6	1.83	53%		63.4
23	Mexico	-4.0%	59.7	1.10	69%	67.0%	75.4	4.5
24	Nicaragua	-41.1%	55.0	0.96	64%	67.0%	31.5
25	Panama	-5.2%	62.7	1.49	74%	64.6%	85.0
26	Paraguay	-32.6%	53.9	1.79	69%	68.9%	36.4	3.6
27	Peru	-4.0%	61.9	0.99	72%	63.9%	54.0	4.0
28	St Kitts & Nevis	0.0%			54%		96.6
29	St Lucia	-1.1%	56.2	1.65	56%		89.6
30	St Vincent & Grenadines	0.0%	66.5		52%		109.5
31	Suriname	-0.9%	54.2		52%		60.8
32	Trinidad & Tobago	-3.6%	67.4	4.64	63%	74.5%	58.5
33	USA	2.1%	71.2	1.36	47%	19.7%	126.8	5.4
34	Uruguay	43.8%	64.7	0.96	74%	62.4%	62.8	5.1
35	Venezuela	-6.0%	63.9	4.18	70%	60.1%	35.6
36	St Barthelemy	0.0%
37	St Martin	0.0%
38	St Pierre & Miquelon	-29.1%
39	Anguilla	0.0%
40	Bermuda	0.0%
41	British Virgin Islands	-1.4%
42	Cayman Islands	-1.6%
43	Falkland Islands	0.0%
44	Montserrat	0.0%
45	Turks & Caicos Islands	0.0%
46	Puerto Rico	15.5%		0.68
47	US Virgin Islands	-1.9%
48	Greenland	0.0%
49	French Guiana	-1.0%
50	Guadeloupe	-0.5%
51	Martinique	7.2%
52	Aruba	0.0%
53	Curaço	0.0%
	The Americas Avg	-2.1%	58.8	1.42	60.7%	58.6%	70.3	4.6
	World Avg	-0.1%	56.4	1.23	57.5%	39.9%	52.5	4.8
q=53. No data: 5₂₁

5. Culture, Peace and Inequality

#capitalism #charity #corruption #culture #economics #equality #extremism #happiness #health #human_development #inequality #life_expectancy #morals #peace #politics #poverty #religious_violence #social_development #terrorism

This is the final pillar of the Social and Moral Development Index; it has 22 datasets, including multiple decades of data on World Giving Index, resisting corruption, overall happiness, Creativity and Culture, Open Trading, Aid and Development, its Global Peace Index rating, Peacekeeping and Security, Refugees and UN Treaties, the impact of terrorism, Inequality in Life Expectancy, Income Inequality (Gini Coefficient) and Multidimensional Poverty.

For more, see:

"Which are the Countries for International Contributions, Creativity, Peace and Inequality?" by Vexen Crabtree (2025).

National Culture:

Pos.		World Giving Index (2022) Higher is better %₂₂	Corruption (2022) Higher is better Points₂₃	Happiness (2024) Higher is better Score₂₄	Creativity & Culture (2017) Lower is better Rank₂₅	Open Trading, Aid & Development (2017) Lower is better Rank₂₅
1	Antigua & Barbuda				74	139
2	Argentina	47.0	38.0	6.4	113	100
3	Bahamas		64.0		52	127
4	Barbados		65.0		18	32
5	Belize			6.7	36	141
6	Bolivia	43.0	31.0	5.9	98	106
7	Brazil	47.0	38.0	6.5	119	162
8	Canada	51.0	74.0	6.8	25	27
9	Chile	38.0	67.0	6.4	51	73
10	Colombia	42.0	39.0	6.0	118	119
11	Costa Rica	44.0	54.0	7.3	32	82
12	Cuba		45.0
13	Dominica		55.0		73	104
14	Dominican Rep.	44.0	32.0	5.8	125	76
15	Ecuador	42.0	36.0	6.0	106	110
16	El Salvador	36.0	33.0	6.5	99	58
17	Grenada		52.0		50	155
18	Guatemala		24.0	6.4	83	78
19	Guyana		40.0		68	118
20	Haiti		17.0		92	53
21	Honduras	46.0	23.0	6.0	120	64
22	Jamaica	46.0	44.0	5.9	86	146
23	Mexico	44.0	31.0	7.0	64	108
24	Nicaragua	40.0	19.0	6.3	100	20
25	Panama	36.0	36.0	6.4	117	68
26	Paraguay	44.0	28.0	6.2	140	154
27	Peru	39.0	36.0	5.9	90	96
28	St Lucia		55.0		24	125
29	St Vincent & Grenadines		60.0		43	144
30	Suriname		40.0		80	151
31	Trinidad & Tobago		42.0	5.9	71	28
32	USA	59.0	69.0	6.7	67	62
33	Uruguay	40.0	74.0	6.7	59	135
34	Venezuela	45.0	14.0	5.7	154	156
	The Americas Avg	43.7	42.97	6.31	80.2	100.5
	World Avg	39.6	42.98	5.58	82.0	82.0
q=34. No data: 24₂₆

Transparency International's analysis of corruption throughout The Americas concludes that "a lack of bold, decisive action to fight corruption and strengthen public institutions is fuelling organised criminal activities and other sources of violence. It is also undermining democracy, human rights and development"₂₇. With 100 being "very clean", Uruguay and Canada score in the 70s, whilst in the 60s sit the USA, Chile, Barbados, Bahamas and St Vincent and the Grenadines. The three countries at the bottom all score under 20; they are Haiti, Venezuela and Nicaragua. They are some of the poorest countries in the region who can least afford to lose finances through corruption, but, who are also the most unable to combat it.

Peace Versus Instability:

Pos.		Global Peace Index (2023) Lower is better Score₂₈	Peacekeeping & Security (2017) Lower is better Rank₂₅	Refugees & UN Treaties (2017) Lower is better Rank₂₅	Impact of Terrorism (2019) Lower is better Score₂₉
1	Antigua & Barbuda		103	131
2	Argentina	1.84	39	49	1.68
3	Bahamas		94	148
4	Barbados		126	103
5	Belize		143	113
6	Bolivia	2.00	45	46	3.39
7	Brazil	2.46	61	50	2.53
8	Canada	1.35	41	11	3.59
9	Chile	1.87	19	26	4.12
10	Colombia	2.69	15	121	5.91
11	Costa Rica	1.73	16	22	0.00
12	Cuba	2.10
13	Dominica		137	116
14	Dominican Rep.	2.02	129	51	0.18
15	Ecuador	2.10	24	80	2.46
16	El Salvador	2.28	134	147	0.00
17	Grenada		62	152
18	Guatemala	2.13	23	71	1.33
19	Guyana	2.13	75	154	0.04
20	Haiti	2.40	144	140	2.18
21	Honduras	2.27	88	122	0.99
22	Jamaica	1.99	74	86	0.47
23	Mexico	2.60	85	99	4.08
24	Nicaragua	2.29	96	87	2.95
25	Panama	1.94	110	27	0.04
26	Paraguay	1.94	30	82	3.12
27	Peru	2.13	97	95	2.84
28	St Lucia		139	157
29	St Vincent & Grenadines		142	134
30	Suriname		114	105
31	Trinidad & Tobago	1.95	116	136	0.02
32	USA	2.45	72	29	5.69
33	Uruguay	1.80	6	37	0.17
34	Venezuela	2.69	118	91	4.10
	The Americas Avg	2.13	82.3	91.5	2.16
	World Avg	2.07	82.0	82.0	2.78
q=34. No data: 24₂₆

Economic Inequality and Poverty:

Pos.		Inequality in Life Expectancy (2019) Lower is better₃₀	Income Inequality (Gini Coefficient) (2023) Lower is better %₃₁	Multidimensional Poverty (2018) Lower is better Severity₃₂
1	Argentina	8.60	40.7%₃₃
2	Bahamas	6.80
3	Barbados	8.70		.009
4	Belize	11.10	57.7%₃₄	.017
5	Bolivia	22.50	40.9%₃₅	.094
6	Brazil	10.90	52.0%₃₃	.016₃₆
7	Canada	4.60	31.7%₃₇
8	Chile	6.30	43.0%₃₃
9	Colombia	10.70	54.8%₃₃	.020
10	Costa Rica	7.10	46.7%₃₈
11	Cuba	5.10
12	Dominican Rep.	17.00	37.0%₃₃	.015
13	Ecuador	11.50	44.6%₃₈	.018
14	El Salvador	12.50	38.8%₃₃	.032
15	Grenada	11.20	43.8%₃₉
16	Guatemala	14.60	48.3%₄₀	.134
17	Guyana	19.00		.014
18	Haiti	32.20	41.1%₄₁	.200
19	Honduras	13.30	48.2%₃₇	.090
20	Jamaica	10.00	40.2%₃₅	.018
21	Mexico	10.50	43.5%₃₃	.025
22	Nicaragua	13.10	46.2%₄₀	.074
23	Panama	12.00	48.9%₃₈
24	Paraguay	13.80	45.1%₃₃	.019
25	Peru	10.80	40.3%₃₃	.053
26	St Lucia	10.60	43.7%₄₂	.007
27	St Vincent & Grenadines	11.30
28	Suriname	12.80	39.2%₃₃	.041
29	Trinidad & Tobago	14.90		.002
30	USA	6.30	41.3%₃₃
31	Uruguay	7.90	40.6%₃₃
32	Venezuela	17.10	44.7%₄₃
	The Americas Avg	12.03	44.0%	.045
	World Avg	14.59	36.5%	.154
q=32. No data: 26₄₄

6. Modernity and Learning

#education #english #intelligence #it_security #maths #modernity #politics #religion #religiosity #research #science #secularisation #technology #the_internet

The most modern countries, with the best results from education, the highest levels of research, and with the easiest access to information on the Internet, are Finland, Belgium and Denmark₄₅. The worst countries are Eritrea, S. Sudan and Sierra Leone₄₅. Despite improves in global education, access to tertiary (adult) education is becoming increasingly unequal between the rich haves and the poor have-nots₄₆.

“Education, at all levels and ages, is the single most vital support for equality as well as being a country's most vital economic and social resource. [...] Every successful aspirant to modernisation and economic development, from Japan to South Korea, China to Chile, has got there with a big emphasis on education.”
Bill Emmott (2017)₄₇

15 datasets are used to calculate points for each country, including multiple decades of data on Research and Development, Secondary Education, Length of Schooling, Intellectual Endeavours, Maths, Science & Reading, Religiosity, IQ, the percent of citizens with access to the internet, Freedom On The Internet, IT Security, IPv6 Uptake and digital quality of life. The regions with the best average results per country are Scandinavia, Baltic States and Europe₄₅, whereas the worst are Melanesia, Africa and Micronesia₄₅.

For more, see:

"Which Countries are Most Modern, With the Best Education and Internet Access?" by Vexen Crabtree (2025).

Modernity and Education:

Pos.		Research & Development (2016) Higher is better % RDP PPP	Secondary Education (2018) Higher is better₄₈	Length of Schooling (2021) Higher is better Years₄₉	Intellectual Endeavours (2017) Lower is better Rank₂₅	Maths, Science & Reading (2015) Higher is better Score₅₀	Religiosity (2018) Lower is better %₅₁	IQ (2006) Higher is better₅₂
1	Antigua & Barbuda			14.2	91
2	Argentina	0.58₅₃	64.8%	17.9	75	1406₅₄	43	93
3	Bahamas		88.4%	12.9	114
4	Barbados		92.9%	15.7	35
5	Belize		78.6%	13.0	112
6	Bolivia	0.16₅₅	58.8%	14.9	161		71	87
7	Brazil	1.15₅₆	59.5%	15.6	109	1185	72	87
8	Canada	1.61₅₇	100.0%	16.4	29	1571	27	99
9	Chile	0.38₅₇	79.3%	16.7	74	1329	41	90
10	Colombia	0.04₅₈	52.0%	14.4	78	1231	77	84
11	Costa Rica	0.47₅₉	52.9%	16.5	76	1247	76	89
12	Cuba	0.47₅₈	87.4%	14.4				85
13	Dominica			13.3	51
14	Dominican Rep.		56.6%	14.5	122	1018	78	82
15	Ecuador	0.34₅₉	51.9%	14.6	139		76	88
16	El Salvador	0.03₅₆	42.8%	12.7	121		85	80
17	Grenada			18.7	22
18	Guatemala	0.04₅₆	37.8%	10.6	119		89	79
19	Guyana		63.3%	12.5	158
20	Haiti		33.2%	9.7	132			67
21	Honduras	0.04₆₀	33.5%	10.1	136		90	81
22	Jamaica		66.3%	13.4	77			71
23	Mexico	0.54₅₇	59.7%	14.9	95	1247	45	88
24	Nicaragua		47.5%	12.6	110		88	81
25	Panama	0.18₅₉	72.2%	13.1	99		61	84
26	Paraguay	0.09₅₆	47.8%	13.0	155		56	84
27	Peru	0.10₆₁	62.2%	15.4	102	1182	73	85
28	St Kitts & Nevis			15.4
29	St Lucia		46.0%	12.9	54
30	St Vincent & Grenadines			14.7	97
31	Suriname		60.5%	13.0	134
32	Trinidad & Tobago	0.05₅₆	73.4%	14.5	93	1269		85
33	USA	2.74₅₃	95.6%	16.3	38	1463	53	98
34	Uruguay	0.23₅₆	56.0%	16.8	135	1290	29	96
35	Venezuela		69.2%	12.8	149		67	84
36	Bermuda	0.23₅₈
37	Puerto Rico	0.44₅₈					77
	The Americas Avg	0.47	63.0%	14.2	99.8	1287	65.4	85.3
	World Avg	0.84	63.0%	13.5	82.0	1389	54.3	85.6
q=37. No data: 21₆₂

Technology and Information:

Pos.		Internet Users (2016) Higher is better₆₃	Internet Freedom (2012) Lower is better₆₄	IT Security (2013) Lower is better₆₅	IPv6 Uptake (2017) Higher is better Ratio₆₆	Digital Quality of Life (2024) Higher is better₆₇
1	Antigua & Barbuda	65%			0.0
2	Argentina	69%	26	0.27	1.4	56.2%
3	Bahamas	85%			0.0
4	Barbados	80%			0.0
5	Belize	45%		0.11	0.0
6	Bolivia	41%			5.0	33.1%
7	Brazil	66%	27	1.02	13.9	50.9%
8	Canada	89%		0.96	18.3	63.4%
9	Chile	78%		0.66	0.0	55.0%
10	Colombia	57%		0.22	0.0	49.8%
11	Costa Rica	56%			0.1	46.9%
12	Cuba	32%	86		0.0
13	Dominica	66%			0.0
14	Dominican Rep.	52%			1.1	43.4%
15	Ecuador	43%			18.2	43.3%
16	El Salvador	38%			0.0	30.0%
17	Grenada	39%			0.0
18	Guatemala	27%			6.9	31.0%
19	Guyana	40%			0.0
20	Haiti	12%
21	Honduras	22%			0.0	28.5%
22	Jamaica	43%			0.0	38.9%
23	Mexico	45%	37	0.16	0.4	44.6%
24	Nicaragua	19%			0.0
25	Panama	45%			0.1	41.6%
26	Paraguay	47%			0.0	41.2%
27	Peru	41%		0.30	18.3	49.9%
28	St Kitts & Nevis	66%			0.6
29	St Lucia	59%			0.0
30	St Vincent & Grenadines	60%			0.0
31	Suriname	42%			0.0
32	Trinidad & Tobago	69%			14.5	38.1%
33	USA	89%	12	3.68	35.0	67.5%
34	Uruguay	65%			0.3	54.8%
35	Venezuela	58%	48		0.0	30.1%
36	Bermuda	97%			0.0
37	British Virgin Islands			1.08
38	Cayman Islands	74%			0.0
39	Puerto Rico	83%			0.2
40	US Virgin Islands	54%			0.0
41	Greenland	67%			0.0
42	Aruba	88%			0.0
	The Americas Avg	56.4%	39.3	0.84	3.36	44.7%
	World Avg	48.1%	46.7	0.98	3.82	48.4%
q=42. No data: 16₆₈

7. Health

#alcohol #birth_control #demographics #health #life_expectancy #longevity #mental_health #obesity #overpopulation #parenting #population #smoking #suicide #vaccines

The countries with the best overall approach to public health, in terms of both public policy and individual lifestyle choices, are Monaco, Liechtenstein and The Isle of Man₆₉. These countries are worth emulating. And, although often through no fault of the average citizen, the worst countries are The Cook Islands, The Marshall Islands and Niue₆₉.

25 datasets are used to calculate points for each country, including multiple decades of data on its average life expectancy, its alcohol consumption rate, its fertility rate, its smoking rate, its suicide rate, its food aid and health contributions and WHO compliance, the prevalence of overweight adults, obesity rate, its adolescent birth rate and its immunizations take-up. The regions with the best average results per country are Scandinavia, Europe and The Balkans₆₉, whereas the worst are Micronesia, Africa and Australasia₆₉.

For more, see:

"Countries With the Healthiest Cultures and Health Policies" by Vexen Crabtree (2020).

Health:

Pos.		Life Expectancy (2021) Higher is better Years₃	Alcohol Consumption (2016) Lower is better Per Capita₇₀	Fertility Rate (2022) 2.0 is best₁₁	Smoking Rates (2014) Lower is better₇₁	Suicide Rate (2013) Per 100k₇₂	Food Aid, Health Contributions & WHO Compliance (2017) Lower is better Rank₂₅	Overweight Adults (1976) Lower is better %₇₃	Adult Obesity (2022) Lower is better %₇₄
1	Antigua & Barbuda	78.5	7.0	1.58	362		124	25.8	34.1%
2	Argentina	75.4	9.8	1.88	1 359	15.6	122	40.4	36.0%
3	Bahamas	71.6	4.4	1.38	301	2.5	155	38.8	47.6%
4	Barbados	77.6	9.6	1.63	333	7.3	103	29.5	38.2%
5	Belize	70.5	6.8	1.99	400	7.3	158	32.4	41.9%
6	Bolivia	63.6	4.8	2.58	299		85	28.1	27.8%
7	Brazil	72.8	7.8	1.63	492	9.7	40	28.2	28.8%
8	Canada	82.7	8.9	1.33	1 154	22.7	8	40.6	27.3%
9	Chile	78.9	9.3	1.54	930	22.4	91	40.4	39.5%
10	Colombia	72.8	5.8	1.69	359	9.9	98	32.7	23.9%
11	Costa Rica	77.0	4.8	1.52	432	12.1	110	28.6	32.0%
12	Cuba	73.7	6.1	1.45	1 392	24.5		32.1	23.5%
13	Dominica	72.8	8.2	1.59			111	28.0	31.5%
14	Dominican Rep.	72.6	6.9	2.25	245	4.6	81	27.3	29.1%
15	Ecuador	73.7	4.4	2.00	191	14.1	50	29.0	27.0%
16	El Salvador	70.7	3.8	1.79	280	16.5	42	29.7	29.9%
17	Grenada	74.9	9.3	1.99	224	0	133	26.2	30.5%
18	Guatemala	69.2	2.5	2.35	190	7.3	77	28.2	25.2%
19	Guyana	65.7	6.3	2.37	77	52.4	97	24.3	28.0%
20	Haiti	63.2	5.8	2.77	114	0	115	20.2	10.2%
21	Honduras	70.1	4.0	2.34	489		62	25.5	28.5%
22	Jamaica	70.5	4.2	1.34	593		147	28.0	34.2%
23	Mexico	70.2	6.5	1.80	329	8.5	45	38.1	36.1%
24	Nicaragua	73.8	5.2	2.28	488	11.6	30	32.2	32.4%
25	Panama	76.2	7.9	2.30	224	10.9	54	31.2	36.1%
26	Paraguay	70.3	7.2	2.44	166	7.1	69	25.1	32.1%
27	Peru	72.4	6.3	2.16	116	2.9	113	33.5	27.2%
28	St Kitts & Nevis	71.7	9.4	1.51				27.2	46.6%
29	St Lucia	71.1	9.9	1.39	232	4.9	151	24.0	33.9%
30	St Vincent & Grenadines	69.6	8.2	1.78	338	7.3	162	25.9	33.6%
31	Suriname	70.3	5.1	2.32	79	28.7	132	31.0	29.0%
32	Trinidad & Tobago	73.0	8.4	1.61	97	21.7	152	20.6	29.2%
33	USA	77.2	9.8	1.67	1 083	22.2	10	41.6	42.9%
34	Uruguay	75.4	10.8	1.48	1 135	32.3	80	40.5	34.7%
35	Venezuela	70.6	5.6	2.19	565	6.5	104	40.0	22.8%
36	St Martin			2.39
37	Bermuda			1.30					34.0%
38	British Virgin Islands			1.02
39	Turks & Caicos Islands			1.66
40	Puerto Rico			0.90					41.0%
41	US Virgin Islands			2.00
42	Greenland			1.84					28.2%
43	Aruba			1.18
44	Curaço			1.30
	The Americas Avg	72.58	6.9	1.80	457	13.57	94.3	30.7	32.0%
	World Avg	71.28	6.2	2.47	819	20.93	82.0	27.1	24.7%
q=44. No data: 14₁₃

Children's Health:

Pos.		Adolescent Birth Rate (2022) Lower is better Per 1000₇₅	Infant Immunizations 2011-2015 (2015) Higher is better Avg %₇₆
1	Antigua & Barbuda	32.3	98.0
2	Argentina	37.9	93.7
3	Bahamas	25.1	96.2
4	Barbados	41.9	92.1
5	Belize	56.6	95.1
6	Bolivia	63.1	94.2
7	Brazil	43.6	96.7
8	Canada	6.6	85.2
9	Chile	22.8	93.3
10	Colombia	57.6	88.4
11	Costa Rica	35.7	88.5
12	Cuba	48.9	97.9
13	Dominica	37.9	97.1
14	Dominican Rep.	63.2	86.3
15	Ecuador	62.1	86.8
16	El Salvador	54.5	92.4
17	Grenada	32.1	95.2
18	Guatemala	63.2	85.2
19	Guyana	64.6	97.0
20	Haiti	51.8	65.7
21	Honduras	71.3	88.8
22	Jamaica	32.0	90.9
23	Mexico	53.7	91.6
24	Nicaragua	84.0	95.9
25	Panama	68.5	86.1
26	Paraguay	69.9	88.1
27	Peru	56.1	89.3
28	St Kitts & Nevis	36.8	96.3
29	St Lucia	36.3	98.2
30	St Vincent & Grenadines	46.5	97.2
31	Suriname	55.2	87.2
32	Trinidad & Tobago	37.7	91.4
33	USA	15.1	92.8
34	Uruguay	35.2	95.6
35	Venezuela	82.0	80.6
	The Americas Avg	48.1	91.3
	World Avg	43.8	88.3
q=35. No data: 23₇₇

8. Human Rights, Equality & Tolerance

#equality #freedom #gender_equality #human_rights #morals #politics #prejudice #The_Americas #tolerance

Human Rights, Equality & Tolerance (2025)₁₀
Pos.		Lower is better Avg Rank₁₀
1	Canada	14.7
2	Costa Rica	31.8
3	Uruguay	35.5
4	USA	38.6
5	Chile	47.9
6	Puerto Rico	50.8
7	Barbados	51.7
8	Argentina	53.3
9	St Vincent & Grenadines	54.2
10	Dominica	57.3
	...
34	Nicaragua	93.2
35	Haiti	111.9
36	Cuba	119.1
	The Americas Avg	71.80
	World Avg	86.55
q=36.

The Americas encompass countries that range widely on economic and democratic scales; from the well-developed to the politically anarchic; from the rich to the poor. It's far from the case that rich countries can afford to put more effort into human rights, tolerance and equality, compared with poor countries. Statistical analysis shows that these areas of development are largely a result of cultural factors and popular willpower, rather than wealth. The best countries in The Americas at protecting human rights, engendering tolerance and supporting equality, are Canada, Costa Rica and Uruguay and the continent as a whole does better than the global average. The worst countries are Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua.

For full commentary and data, see:

The Americas: Which Countries are Best at Human Rights, Tolerance and Equality?

9. Religion and Beliefs

#belief #buddhism #christianity #folk_religion #god #hinduism #human_development #islam #judaism #no_religion #religion #religiosity #secularisation

Pos.		Religiosity (2018) Lower is better %₅₁	Disbelief In God (2007) Higher is better %₇₈	Jews (2010) %₇₉	Christians (2010) %₇₉	Muslims (2010) %₇₉	Hindus (2010) %₇₉	Buddhists (2010) %₇₉	Folk Religion (2010) %₇₉	Unaffiliated (2010) %₇₉
1	Antigua & Barbuda			0.1	93.0	0.6	0.2	0.1	3.6	1.7
2	Argentina	43	4	0.5	85.2	1.0	0.1	0.1	0.8	12.2
3	Bahamas			0.1	96.0	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.3	3.1
4	Barbados			0.1	95.2	1.0	0.4	0.1	0.1	1.9
5	Belize			1.0	87.6	0.1	0.2	0.5	1.5	8.9
6	Bolivia	71	1	0.1	93.9	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.9	4.1
7	Brazil	72	1	0.1	88.9	0.1	0.1	0.1	2.8	7.9
8	Canada	27	22	1.0	69.0	2.1	1.4	0.8	1.2	23.7
9	Chile	41	2	0.1	89.4	0.1	0.1	0.1	1.5	8.6
10	Colombia	77	1	0.1	92.5	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.8	6.6
11	Costa Rica	76	1	0.1	90.9	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.8	7.9
12	Cuba		40	0.1	59.2	0.1	0.2	0.1	17.4	23.0
13	Dominica			0.1	94.4	0.1	0.1	0.1	3.0	0.5
14	Dominican Rep.	78	7	0.1	88.0	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.9	10.9
15	Ecuador	76	1	0.1	94.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.3	5.5
16	El Salvador	85	1	0.1	88.2	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.5	11.0
17	Grenada			0.1	96.6	0.3	0.7	0.1	1.3	1.0
18	Guatemala	89	1	0.1	95.2	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.6	4.1
19	Guyana			0.1	66.0	6.4	24.9	0.1	0.2	2.0
20	Haiti		0	0.1	86.9	0.1	0.1	0.1	2.2	10.6
21	Honduras	90	1	0.1	87.6	0.1	0.1	0.1	1.1	10.5
22	Jamaica		3	0.1	77.2	0.1	0.1	0.1	4.5	17.2
23	Mexico	45	4	0.1	95.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	4.7
24	Nicaragua	88	1	0.1	85.8	0.1	0.1	0.1	1.4	12.5
25	Panama	61	1	0.4	93.0	0.7	0.1	0.2	0.4	4.8
26	Paraguay	56	1	0.1	96.9	0.1	0.1	0.1	1.7	1.1
27	Peru	73	1	0.1	95.5	0.1	0.1	0.2	1.0	3.0
28	St Kitts & Nevis			0.1	94.6	0.3	1.5	0.1	1.3	1.6
29	St Lucia			0.1	91.1	0.1	0.3	0.1	0.5	6.0
30	St Vincent & Grenadines			0.1	88.7	1.5	3.4	0.1	2.0	2.5
31	Suriname			0.2	51.6	15.2	19.8	0.6	5.3	5.4
32	Trinidad & Tobago		9	0.1	65.9	5.9	22.7	0.3	1.9	1.9
33	USA	53	10	1.8	78.3	0.9	0.6	1.2	0.2	16.4
34	Uruguay	29	12	0.3	57.9	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.8	40.7
35	Venezuela	67	1	0.1	89.3	0.3	0.1	0.1	0.2	10.0
36	St Pierre & Miquelon			0.1	94.7	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.1	3.8
37	Anguilla			0.1	90.6	0.3	0.4	0.1	2.9	4.0
38	Bermuda			0.3	75.0	1.1	0.1	0.5	3.0	19.4
39	British Virgin Islands			0.1	84.5	1.2	1.2	0.1	8.4	3.9
40	Cayman Islands			0.8	83.5	0.4	0.9	0.1	4.5	9.4
41	Falkland Islands			0.1	67.2	0.3	0.1	0.2	0.1	31.5
42	Montserrat			0.1	93.5	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.2	4.8
43	Turks & Caicos Islands			0.1	92.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	2.7	4.6
44	Puerto Rico	77		0.1	96.7	0.1	0.1	0.3	0.8	1.9
45	US Virgin Islands			0.3	94.8	0.1	0.4	0.1	0.1	3.7
46	Greenland			0.1	96.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.8	2.5
47	French Guiana			0.1	84.4	0.9	1.6	0.1	9.1	3.4
48	Guadeloupe			0.1	95.9	0.4	0.5	0.1	0.4	2.5
49	Martinique			0.1	96.5	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.2	2.3
50	Aruba			0.4	91.9	0.2	0.1	0.1	1.3	6.0
	The Americas Avg	65.4	5.3	0.2	86.7	0.9	1.7	0.2	2.0	7.9
	World Avg	54.3	9.9	0.5	60.6	22.4	2.0	3.5	2.7	7.9
q=50. No data: 8₈₀

Links: