Best Countries for Education

From primary school to university, a look at how countries invest in the world’s future leaders.

Fifty years from now, countries of the world will be governed by today’s youth. Their thoughts and actions will be shaped by what they know and have experienced, making education, in many ways, one of the best predictors of a nation’s future success.

The 2016 Best Countries rankings, conducted in partnership with brand strategy firm BAV Consulting and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, asked more than 16,000 survey participants from four regions to associate countries with specific attributes. The Best Countries for Education are ranked based on scores on a compilation of three equally weighted country attributes: has top quality universities, well-developed public education system and would consider attending university there.

Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland spend some of the most money on education as a percentage of their gross domestic product, according to the World Bank. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has said that levels of education funding do not necessarily affect academic performance, but these Scandinavian nations all ranked in the top third, generally outperforming Asian nations where students are pressured to perform well. No. 18 South Korea, where children attend school each day of the week, was the third Asian nation on the list, preceded by No. 8Japan and No. 17 Singapore.