By NAN Staff Business Editor
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. April 28, 2023: For another year, no Caribbean country has managed to crack the Top 20 ranks of the World Citizenship Index as evidenced in the second World Citizenship Report from CS Partners.
The report measures 188 countries across five motivators that are most relevant among the newest generation of global citizens – Safety and Security, Economic Opportunity, Quality of Life, Global Mobility and Financial Freedom.
Denmark, Switzerland and Finland took the Top 3 on the Top 20 ranks.
Barbados ranked the highest for the Caribbean but came in at only 40 on the global rank.
Following Barbados was the Bahamas at 44; St. Kitts at 48th and Grenada at 49th.
Dominica ranked at 52 and St. Lucia at 53rd while Trinidad and Tobago came in at 55th.
Jamaica ranked even lower at 71 while the Dominican Republic came in at 76th.
Oil rich Suriname and Guyana ranked way lower, at 79th and 81 on the Index.
Belize ranked at 86th while Cuba was the second lowest for the Caribbean on the Index, ranking at 97th.
Haiti was way down the ranks, coming in at last for the Caribbean with a rank of 141.
The United States came in at 29th position. African countries took the bottom 10 positions, with Somalia taking 185th place.
SAFETY
As far as safety and security, or “the ability to feel safe in one’s immediate environment, Dominica took the top spot for the Caribbean, ranking at 38th globally out of 169 nations. Barbados was second for the region at 39th.
ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
On the economic opportunity ranks, Antigua & Barbuda and the Bahamas, took the top spot for the Caribbean at 63rd each, out of 128 countries. This category looked at destinations that provide “greater access to improved business environments and employment opportunities” and “allows individuals to participate in the economy while achieving their goals of securing their financial futures and raising the standard of living for themselves and their families.”
QUALITY OF LIFE
As far as quality of life, Trinidad and Tobago took the top spot for the Caribbean, ranking 55th globally out of 162 countries. Barbados came in at 56th while Antigua & Barbuda ranked at 59th. This category looked at “the ability of a nation-state to provide its citizens with the essential services for a good standard of living … including well-functioning health facilities, schools, and public infrastructure lead to greater opportunity, these factors, along with a clean environment.”
Oil rich Guyana ranked at 102nd while Jamaica was at 96th.
GLOBAL MOBILITY RANK
On the global mobility rankings – t he ability to travel freely between different jurisdictions easily – Barbados again took the top spot for the Caribbean at 27th out of 134 countries while the Bahamas was second for the region at 29th. St. Kitts and Nevis came in third at 37th. Guyana again ranked low at 73rd while Jamaica was even lower at 75th.
FINANCIAL FREEDOM
Barbados also took the top spot for the Caribbean in this category at 29th out of 153 nations. The Bahamas came in at 31st and St. Vincent and the Grenadines at 41st. Guyana ranked at 80th and Jamaica at 59th. Financial freedom according to the report’s authors, “measures the ability of a country to provide a favorable and stable regulatory climate for the establishment and functioning of businesses, as well as the holding of personal and business assets.”
