Ah the UK. It’s the home of pubs, Sunday football and roast dinners, all arguably wonderful things. But we’ve also got a lot of not so nice things, like trains that hardly seem to run on time and unfairly high living costs – and it rains all the time.  However, it’s not all bad, because a new ranking for 2024 has named Britain as one of the world’s best countries. 

A new list by US News World Report ranked all the countries in the world from best to worst, and the UK came in eighth place. The report looked at countries for their quality of life, business innovations, cultural influence, ability to inspire adventure and more, to come up with the top ten overall best nations on the planet. 

Great Britain just made it into the top 10. ‘The United Kingdom is a highly developed nation that exerts considerable international economic, political, scientific and cultural influence,’ wrote the report. GB was lauded for its cultural impact and contributions to science, with the report shouting out Shakespeare and Stephen Hawking. The country was also praised for its multi-cultural society, which ‘has attracted immigrants for centuries’.

Switzerland took the top spot for the second your in a row in the Best Countries list, scoring particularly highly for business and quality of life. Japan and the USA came in second and third place respectively.

Do you agree with these rankings? You can read the full report online here. 

The UK’s best (and worst) universities for 2025 have been named by the Daily Mail. 

England’s highest altitude nature reserve is coming to the Lake District. 

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