Today we are publishing our study Best citizenships index (BC) which tells you the the most valuable citizenship in the world. We looked into 15 important pillars to rank which citizenships are best in the world and assigned scores based on on our PBS scoring model. It is important to note this index is about the value of citizenship not about passports
For the first time we integrated the Covid-19 cases in the citizenship rankings, as a result countries have most covid-19 cases (did not contain the pandemic) scored low in rankings. Similarly, countries that require compulsory military service and hostile towards dual citizenship, suffer from scores assigned by our model. We consider birthright citizenship and ability to renounce citizenships easily which give boost in rankings for some countries. Finally education, healthcare system, prosperity and freedom also very important when it comes to becoming a citizen in your dream country.
According to our study, European countries tend to have the best citizenships in the world. Our study shows, Luxembourg has the best citizenship in the world for 2020, followed by Iceland in second spot and Germany in the third spot. North Korea and Yemen score the bottom rankings in the index.
Luxembourg is the richest country in the world and It is worth remembering the first schengen agreement was signed in a small village of Schengen, Luxembourg led to the creation of the Schengen area, a landmark achievement towards freedom of movement.
| Rank | Country | PBS score |
| 1 | Luxembourg | 146.867 |
| 2 | Iceland | 143.203 |
| 3 | Germany | 143.059 |
| 4 | Ireland | 142.328 |
| 5 | Australia | 141.623 |
| 6 | Canada | 140.864 |
| 7 | New Zealand | 140.239 |
| 8 | United Kingdom | 139.735 |
| 9 | Spain | 139.088 |
| 10 | Portugal | 138.201 |
| 11 | France | 136.198 |
| 12 | Hong Kong SAR | 136.106 |
| 13 | Italy | 135.865 |
| 14 | Liechtenstein | 134.888 |
| 15 | Hungary | 134.059 |
| 16 | United States | 133.942 |
| 17 | Sweden | 132.589 |
| 18 | Chile | 129.820 |
| 19 | Slovenia | 129.239 |
| 20 | Malta | 127.973 |
| 21 | Belgium | 127.971 |
| 22 | Czech Republic | 127.235 |
| 23 | Poland | 125.959 |
| 24 | Japan | 125.944 |
| 25 | Switzerland | 125.414 |
| 26 | Norway | 124.780 |
| 27 | Denmark | 123.872 |
| 28 | Netherlands | 123.810 |
| 29 | Finland | 123.738 |
| 30 | Israel | 122.258 |
Ranking Pillars
We studied 15 most important pillars of citizenship to arrive at the rankings..
- Human Development index (HDI) – 10 points
- Global Peace Index – 10 points
- Per Capita Income – Shows how rich the country is for living – 10 points
- Visa free countries using a passport – 10 points
- Safety/Crime – High safety rankings boost rankings – 10 points
- Education System – Education system schools and universities – 10 points
- Freedom Index – Human Freedom encompasses personal, civil, and economic freedom. – 10 points
- Prosperity Index – Prosperity of a nation – 10 points
- Healthcare – Excellent healthcare systems get top marks – 10 points
- Naturalization time (yrs) – Less the year more points (10 points) – 10 points
- Citizenship by marriage (yrs) – 10 points
- Birthright Citizenship – Countries that offer birthright citizenship get – 10 points
- Dual Citizenship – Important status in the modern world – 10 points
- Military Service (compulsory) – Countries that require mandatory military services given reduced points – 10 points
- Citizenship Renunciation – Possibility of renouncing citizenship – 10 points
- Covid-19 Cases – Countries have contained pandemic with little or zero cases get boost in rankings – 10 points
Data Sources:
Freedom Index 2019 – https://www.cato.org
Global CIT – https://globalcit.eu/
WHO Healthcare – https://who.int
Wikipedia – GDP/Per capita/HDI data
Global Peace Index 2019 – http://visionofhumanity.org/
UL Safety Index
Numbeo – https://www.numbeo.com
Education rankings 2019 – https://worldtop20.org/education-data-base-2019
Prosperity Index 2019 – https://www.prosperity.com
