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- Norway took the top spot, while the US, UK, and Australia have ranked within the top 25 most resilient countries in the world, according to a new study.
- The 2019 Global Resilience Index, published this month by American risk management consultancy firm FM Global, ranks 130 countries around the globe based on the resilience of their business environments.
- According to the report, Australia, the US, and the UK ranked highly based on their economic vibrancy, political stability, and corporate governance.
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Norway was named the most resilient country in the world, according to the 2019 Global Resilience Index. The United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Australia all ranked in the top 25.
The Global Resilience Index, published this month by American risk management consultancy FM Global, ranks 130 countries around the globe based on the resilience of their business environments.
The rankings look at 12 economic, risk quality, and supply-chain related measures - like a country's risk of natural disasters and cyber attacks - in order to help business leaders make more informed decisions when looking to expand or strengthen their operations.
Norway received a score of 100 out of a maximum score of 100 and was followed by Denmark, which scored a 97.2 and Switzerland, which scored a 97.
According to the report, Australia, the US, and the UK ranked highly based on their economic vibrancy, political stability, and corporate governance.
The US was divided into three regions - central, eastern, and western portions - which were each scored separately based on their perceived risks.
The United States' central region took spot nine on the index, with a score of 92.4. It scored highest on risk quality because of its low-risk of natural disasters like hurricanes. It also boasts a large population of people living in urban areas, and has high-quality of infrastructure in place to entice potential investors.
The eastern section of the US was ranked at 11, and scored a 91 out of 100 based on the fact that much of its population lives in urban areas and the region also has a strong supply chain in place. The western portion, on the other hand, was ranked in spot 22 with a score of 85.3, based on its high exposure to natural disasters like wildfires and moderate control over corporate corruption.
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The UK was given a score of 91 out of 100, and was tenth on the list based on the quality of its infrastructure as well as the high visibility of its supply chain.
Australia came in spot 17 on the list, earning a score of 88.2. Australia scored low on economic productivity from its gross domestic product (GDP) based on purchasing power parity divided by the total population, but it scored high on its rate of urbanization and control over corporate corruption.
Lynette Schultheis, Operations Manager at FM Global, explained that Australia's ranking comes from its outsourcing of its supply chain overseas.
"While many Australian-based businesses have moved their supply chains into Asia to make them more competitive, few have mapped the vulnerabilities that their supply chains are now exposed to, Schultheis said in a press release. "This means too few businesses understand the potential political, financial, legal and reputational risks they may have unintentionally exposed themselves to and now must face and overcome."
Haiti remains the lowest ranked country in the index, based on its high rate of poverty and slow recovery from 2007's Hurricane Matthew, a category 5 storm which brought catastrophic damage to the Caribbean nation. Venezuela also ranked poorly based on its high levels of corruption and its economic dependency on oil.
The top 25:
- Norway
- Denmark
- Switzerland
- Germany
- Finland
- Sweden
- Luxembourg
- Austria
- Central portion of the United States
- The United Kingdom
- Eastern portion of the United States
- New Zealand
- Canada
- France
- Netherlands
- Ireland
- Australia
- Hong Kong
- Belgium
- Czech Republic
- Singapore
- Western part of the US
- Spain
- Poland
- Iceland