Advertisement

Sweden the best country for global development, new study declares

TT/The Local
TT/The Local - [email protected]
Sweden the best country for global development, new study declares
Sweden's migration policy was praised in the report. Pictured: a waiting room for asylum seekers at the Solna Migration Agency. Photo: Marcus Ericsson/TT

Sweden is the world leader at contributing to positive development in the world's poorer nations, thanks in part to strong migration policy, according to a new report by the US-based Centre for Global Development (CGD).

Advertisement

The annual report measures how domestic policy in the world's 27 richest countries affects quality of life and development in poorer countries.

It looked at seven different themes: aid, economy, technology, environment, trade, security, and migration. Then, the authors ranked each country in a 'Commitment to Development' index, with Sweden coming out on top and last year's leader Denmark relegated to second place.

"A good policy for development is about much more than aid," said Masood Ahmed, president of CGD, in a statement.

"Although it's important, politicians in rich countries must evaluate how all their decisions, from refugee policy to copyright, help or hinder developing countries," Ahmed continued.

Sweden's high ranking was due to a strong performance in environment (in which it was ranked 2nd of all 27 countries), aid (3rd), trade (5th) and above all migration, in which it achieved the top ranking. The report also highlighted that Sweden had accepted the highest proportion of refugees of any of the countries included, except from Germany.

"The Swedish aid programme is one of the best in the whole world, and that applies to quality and quantity. Sweden is also very good when we look at migration policy and the environment," Anita Käppeli, one of the report's authors, told Swedish radio Ekot.

"When we look at integration policy, at least on paper we see that Sweden's policy is very good. But it seems as if the feeling among the population is different; that it doesn't feel like it's working," she added.

IN DEPTH: How is Sweden tackling its integration challenge?

The report also noted that Sweden only approved 35 percent of asylum applications, below the average for the countries included in the index and the lowest acceptance rate in Sweden over the past five years.

The think tank highlighted further possible areas for improvement in Sweden, noting: "It has room for improvement on security, given its substantial arms exports and low contributions to international peacekeeping and sea lanes protection."

In security, Sweden was ranked only 20th, and it also received lower scores for economy (11th) and technology (13th).

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also