No. 18

Switzerland
GDP per capita: $63,810
Life Expectancy: 81.5
Mean Years of Schooling: 14.8
Unemployment: 2.6%

Switzerland has a prosperous economy and stable government that has remained neutral since before World War I. Switzerland’s crime rate is low, but, as GPI’s Killelea explains, its ranking is hurt by a relatively high homicide rate due to the mandatory conscription of its citizens into the army and the weapons they are allowed to take home. It is also a significant supplier of major conventional weapons. Switzerland’s largest banks, long a haven for foreign investors because of their high levels of secrecy, were significantly hit by the global economic crisis. The largest received government assistance in late 2008.

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