Russia Maintains Second Place Among World's Most Powerful Countries - Report

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd January, 2019) Russia has remained the world's second most powerful country and ranked fourth among the best countries in which to start a career, the 2018 Best Countries report by the US news & World Report magazine revealed on Wednesday.

The United States topped the list of the most powerful countries, China ranked in third place and Germany and the United Kingdom assumed the fourth and fifth place respectively.

The report evaluated the countries' power based on several criteria, including their leaders, economic and political influence and strong international and military alliances.

The report ranked Russia as the least open country for business, placing in on the 80th place.

With regard to the best countries to start a career, Turkey came up first, followed by Spain and the United Arab Emirates. The Czech Republic follows Russia in that ranking.

Russia has also maintained the eighth place among states with up-and-coming economies.

The countries if the middle East and South Asia continued to dominate in that category, with the United Arab Emirates coming up on top.

The report placed Russia 16th out of 29 countries considered best destinations for investment.

The ranking was based on input received from more than 6,000 business decision makers, and included such criteria as corruption, economic stability, favorable tax environment, innovation and technological expertise among others. The Philippines leads the category followed by Indonesia, Poland, Malaysia and Singapore.

Russia went up one place - from 23rd in 2017 to 22nd in 2018 - in the ranking of countries with best education.

Russia also was also ranged higher in the quality of life - moving form 41st place in 2017 to the 38th place in 2018. The top five countries in this category are Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Australia.

The 2019 Best Countries report is based on responses of 21,117 individuals from 36 countries.