Vietnam holds steady as Southeast Asian peers rise in world's best countries ranking

The rankings were based on 73 country attributes—key factors considered essential for the success of a modern nation. These attributes were categorized into 10 thematic subcategories contributing to the overall rankings: adventure, agility, cultural influence, entrepreneurship, heritage, movers, open for business, power, quality of life, and social purpose.

Vietnam performed best in the heritage (48.8 points out of 100, ranked 24th), movers (42.4 points, 22nd), and open for business (68.4 points, 23rd) subcategories.

The heritage subcategory evaluates a country's cultural accessibility, rich history, culinary diversity, and geographic attractions. The movers category assesses how distinctive, dynamic, and unique a nation is, while open for business looks at factors such as manufacturing costs, tax environment, and government transparency.

Among Southeast Asian nations, Singapore climbed from 16th to 14th, Thailand from 29th to 28th, and Myanmar from 80th to 73rd. Malaysia and Indonesia held their positions at 38th and 41st, while the Philippines dropped two places to 45th, and Cambodia fell four places to 68th.

This year, 89 countries were assessed using a study and model developed by global marketing and communications firm WPP, its proprietary BAV brand analytics tool, and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Switzerland topped this year's rankings with an overall score of 100, followed by Japan with 96.6 and the U.S. with 94.2. Belarus ranked at the bottom.

The rankings were determined through a survey of 16,960 individuals from 36 countries across the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

Respondents included 8,096 informed elites, 4,424 business decision-makers, and 7,509 members of the general public, with some individuals counted in both the informed elites and business decision-makers groups.