Summary

For the last few years, in late December or early January, the Economist usually releases a chart with a title something like "which countries did the best".

Types of markets

Ranking

Above, there are multiple types of options. The first, type is like this:

• Denmark [0% for 11th, 10% for 10th, 100% for 1st]

• This means that the first 10 places will be scored, counting down 100% to 0%.

• Ties resolve with the nominal value (8=, 8= => 80% for both)

A vs B

Another type is "A vs B" markets; these resolve by whether A will beat B. If A wins, 100%. If B wins, 0%. If they tie, then 50%. This is based on the ranking, and note that the Economist includes ties (in 2023, designated by a sequence of rank numbers such as "8=, 8=, 10=" which means there were two countries tied for 8th, to preserve logic, therefore 9th was skipped. If A appears in the list, and B doesn't A wins. If neither appears, then NA.

A vs B win margin

For these, we look at how many places ahead A is. If tied or behind or missing, score is 0%. If A is ahead by 1 place (for example, 1st vs 2nd place) then 10%. If by 10 or more places, score is 100%.

Best in region

Regions are defined based on this map:

So the regions are

• North America

• South America (including South America and the Carribean)

• Africa

• Middle East

• Europe

• Asia

• Oceania (Oz NZ and pacific island nations)

Details on data

This chart has included factors like the following, but with some variations:

• GDP

• Household income per person

• Share Prices

• Investment

• Public Debt to GDP Ratio

• Core Prices

• Employment

• Inflation Breadth

Historical Results

Combined:

2021 results: https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/which-economies-have-done-best-and-worst-during-the-pandemic/21806917

2022 results: https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2022/12/18/2022s-unlikely-economic-winners

2023 results:

https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2023/12/17/which-economy-did-best-in-2023