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Tired of Brexit and Trump? Move to Sweden, 'most liberal countries' ranking recommends

Lee Roden
Lee Roden - [email protected]
Tired of Brexit and Trump? Move to Sweden, 'most liberal countries' ranking recommends
Sweden is one of the places to go if you're down about Trump or Brexit, a new list claims. Photo: Bertil Ericson/TT

Feeling disconnected in post-Brexit Britain or a USA soon to be presided over by Donald Trump? Consider moving to Sweden, according to a new list highlighting the "most liberal countries you could move to in 2017".

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The ranking, created by British relocation service MoveHub, compiled data from three major global studies – the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, the 2016 Social Progress Index, and Yale University’s 2016 Environmental Performance Index (EPI).

It judged Sweden to be the third most liberal country in the world.

"We decided to do the study now because we felt that it was timely with Brexit due to be triggered, and Trump’s inauguration on January 20th," MoveHub’s Harriet Cann told The Local.

The list took into account factors like gender equality, the rights of minorities, personal safety, and environmental measures such as soil, air and water quality in its ranking.

Sweden placed high because, among other things, it was the third best in the world on the EPI’s measure of air quality, water, sanitation, biodiversity and climate change, while in the World Economics Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, it performed well on factors like economic participation, opportunity and political empowerment.

READ ALSO: Swedes named fourth most gender equal in the world

"I wasn’t too surprised by Sweden’s performance, as it is widely considered to be a progressive country – particularly with gender equality and the world’s first feminist government,” Cann noted, referring to the 24 positions on Sweden’s government cabinet being shared evenly among the sexes.

If you’re a liberal looking to get away from Trump or Brexit "Sweden would be a great place to move to," she recommended. Not quite as great as Iceland though, which topped the list thanks to its progress on gender equality and high percentage of renewable energy use. Finland placed second.

Whether liberals excited by the prospect of a Swedish escape can find somewhere to live there is a different question: a shortage of affordable housing in some parts of the country led streaming giant Spotify to complain last year that it may struggle to recruit international talent, while earlier this year it was revealed that over half a million people are now waiting in the queue to earn a long-term rental agreement from Stockholm's Housing Agency.

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