#5
Australia
Australia has a broad range of strengths, which combine to ensure the country consistently achieves a top 10 place in the Best Countries ranking.
A country that traditionally had strong links to the UK, Australia has been strongly influenced in recent decades, demographically and culturally, by immigration from many countries, but especially from Asia. It’s seen as one of the friendliest countries in the world, and has consistently strong pulling power as a tourist destination and as a place many people say they would like to live.
On Best Countries it is a leading performer on the Adventure, Agility, Quality of Life and Social Purpose metrics. It’s seen as a scenic, friendly and fun place to be, with a happy and well-educated population. Australia is viewed as being a progressive and dynamic country with a good job market, as well as being extremely family-friendly, all of which helps account for the country placing in the top 10 on the Best Countries measure of Quality of Life. Australia is perceived as being particularly concerned about environmental issues, climate goals, and animal rights, ranking among the leading countries for Social Purpose, as well as offering a sense of adventure.
The 10 factors that determine a country’s brand
Why is Australia seen as the 5th best country in the world in 2026?
People surveyed for Best Countries were asked how closely they associated 73 attributes with a range of countries. These attributes were then grouped into 10 categories that were used to calculate the Best Countries ranking.
The weighting of each category in the final index is determined by the strength of its correlation to per capita GDP and forecast GDP for 2030.
Australia's top and bottom attributes
Each factor is made up by combining a selection of 73 attributes that track how people perceive each country. These are Australia's top and bottom ones.
#2
A good job market
#2
Cares about animal rights
#3
Adaptable
#78
Cheap manufacturing costs
#68
Different
#64
Affordable
The percepions of Australia have changed over time
Australia has not always been seen as the #5 best country in the world. Explore how the perceptions of Australia have changed over time.
How do people in Australia see the world?
If we were to only ask people in Australia how they see the world the Best Countries ranking would be different. This is how they see it.
