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Ten years of change: who improved most

Levels say where a country stands; ten-year changes say where it is heading. Each chart compares the latest published year with exactly ten years earlier, from the same World Bank series, so the comparison is like for like.

Unemployment rate

Most improved: Greece (-16.4 pts), North Macedonia (-14.1 pts) and Spain (-11.7 pts). Least: South Africa (+7.2 pts), Estonia (+1.9 pts) and Sweden (+1.3 pts).
1Greece-16.4 pts2North Macedonia-14.1 pts3Spain-11.7 ptsCroatia-11.2 ptsSerbia-10.5 ptsCyprus-10.1 ptsAlbania-6.3 ptsPortugal-6.2 ptsSlovakia-6.1 ptsSlovenia-5.8 ptsBulgaria-5.6 ptsItaly-5.5 ptsIreland-5.3 ptsPoland-4.5 ptsIndia-3.4 ptsLatvia-3.3 ptsNetherlands-3.0 ptsFrance-2.8 ptsBelgium-2.6 ptsBrazil-2.6 ptsMalta-2.5 ptsLithuania-2.4 ptsHungary-2.3 ptsCzechia-2.2 ptsAustralia-2.0 ptsIsrael-1.7 ptsMexico-1.6 ptsIndonesia-1.3 ptsUnited States-1.1 ptsSingapore-1.0 ptsJapan-0.9 ptsGermany-0.9 ptsSouth Korea-0.9 ptsRomania-0.8 ptsUnited Kingdom-0.8 ptsDenmark-0.8 ptsHong Kong-0.5 ptsMorocco-0.5 ptsLuxembourg-0.5 ptsIceland-0.4 ptsNew Zealand-0.3 ptsAustria-0.2 ptsCanada-0.0 ptsChina-0.0 ptsSwitzerland+0.1 ptsFinland+0.1 ptsNorway+0.3 ptsUnited Arab Emirates+0.4 ptsMalaysia+0.7 ptsSweden+1.3 ptsEstonia+1.9 ptsSouth Africa+7.2 pts
Unemployment rate, change in percentage points, latest year (mostly 2025) against exactly ten years earlier. Sorted from the biggest improvement to the biggest setback; 52 countries with both years published.

GDP per person at purchasing power

Most improved: Ireland (+154%), Romania (+138%) and Bulgaria (+133%). Least: United Arab Emirates (-9%), South Africa (+16%) and Japan (+32%).
1Ireland+154%2Romania+138%3Bulgaria+133%Albania+127%Croatia+118%India+115%Serbia+115%Cyprus+111%Lithuania+110%China+109%Latvia+101%Poland+101%Malta+98%Hungary+88%Slovenia+87%North Macedonia+86%Iceland+83%Portugal+80%Singapore+78%Czechia+75%Netherlands+73%Spain+72%Denmark+71%Estonia+70%Italy+69%Greece+68%Slovakia+65%South Korea+65%Israel+64%Indonesia+63%Belgium+63%Malaysia+60%Finland+57%United States+56%France+56%Norway+54%Germany+53%Sweden+53%Australia+53%Austria+53%Switzerland+52%United Kingdom+50%New Zealand+49%Luxembourg+48%Morocco+44%Canada+41%Brazil+41%Mexico+39%Hong Kong+38%Japan+32%South Africa+16%United Arab Emirates-9%
GDP per person at purchasing power, change in %, latest year (mostly 2024) against exactly ten years earlier. Sorted from the biggest improvement to the biggest setback; 52 countries with both years published.

Research and development spending

Most improved: Israel (+2.24 pts), South Korea (+1.17 pts) and United Kingdom (+1.06 pts). Least: Slovenia (-0.46 pts), Australia (-0.38 pts) and Finland (-0.19 pts).
1Israel+2.24 pts2South Korea+1.17 pts3United Kingdom+1.06 ptsUnited Arab Emirates+1.02 ptsBelgium+0.95 ptsIceland+0.95 ptsUnited States+0.75 ptsGreece+0.67 ptsPoland+0.67 ptsChina+0.61 ptsCroatia+0.59 ptsNew Zealand+0.40 ptsHong Kong+0.39 ptsGermany+0.37 ptsPortugal+0.37 ptsSweden+0.32 ptsAustria+0.28 ptsSerbia+0.25 ptsSlovakia+0.22 ptsSpain+0.22 ptsNorway+0.21 ptsCyprus+0.20 ptsLatvia+0.19 ptsBulgaria+0.16 ptsJapan+0.16 ptsEstonia+0.14 ptsNetherlands+0.13 ptsRomania+0.13 ptsLithuania+0.10 ptsDenmark+0.09 ptsItaly+0.09 ptsCanada+0.08 ptsIreland+0.05 ptsBrazil-0.00 ptsHungary-0.01 ptsCzechia-0.03 ptsSouth Africa-0.05 ptsFrance-0.06 ptsMalaysia-0.08 ptsMalta-0.08 ptsSingapore-0.11 ptsIndia-0.14 ptsNorth Macedonia-0.14 ptsLuxembourg-0.16 ptsMexico-0.17 ptsFinland-0.19 ptsAustralia-0.38 ptsSlovenia-0.46 pts
Research and development spending, change in percentage points of GDP, latest year (mostly 2023) against exactly ten years earlier. Sorted from the biggest improvement to the biggest setback; 48 countries with both years published.

Life expectancy at birth

Most improved: India (+3.3 yrs), South Africa (+3.1 yrs) and Morocco (+3.0 yrs). Least: Germany (-0.3 yrs), Iceland (-0.1 yrs) and United States (+0.1 yrs).
1India+3.3 yrs2South Africa+3.1 yrs3Morocco+3.0 yrsLithuania+2.7 yrsLatvia+2.3 yrsEstonia+2.3 yrsLiechtenstein+2.1 yrsIndonesia+2.0 yrsSouth Korea+1.9 yrsSweden+1.8 yrsAlbania+1.8 yrsIreland+1.7 yrsSlovakia+1.6 yrsDenmark+1.6 yrsRomania+1.6 yrsMalaysia+1.5 yrsHong Kong+1.5 yrsBulgaria+1.3 yrsChina+1.3 yrsPortugal+1.3 yrsSwitzerland+1.2 yrsSlovenia+1.2 yrsBrazil+1.2 yrsCroatia+1.2 yrsNorth Macedonia+1.2 yrsFinland+1.2 yrsCzechia+1.2 yrsUnited Arab Emirates+1.1 yrsMalta+1.1 yrsNorway+1.1 yrsIsrael+1.0 yrsBelgium+1.0 yrsLuxembourg+1.0 yrsHungary+1.0 yrsItaly+0.9 yrsMexico+0.9 yrsSingapore+0.9 yrsPoland+0.8 yrsAustralia+0.8 yrsSpain+0.7 yrsSerbia+0.6 yrsNew Zealand+0.6 yrsAustria+0.5 yrsCyprus+0.5 yrsGreece+0.5 yrsJapan+0.5 yrsCanada+0.3 yrsFrance+0.3 yrsNetherlands+0.3 yrsUnited Kingdom+0.1 yrsUnited States+0.1 yrsIceland-0.1 yrsGermany-0.3 yrs
Life expectancy at birth, change in years, latest year (mostly 2024) against exactly ten years earlier. Sorted from the biggest improvement to the biggest setback; 53 countries with both years published.

Bars show the size of the change; the sign is in the label. A country that was already near the top has less room to improve, so read this next to the level on its business-climate page.

Source: World Bank WDI (CC BY 4.0): SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS, NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.CD, GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS, SP.DYN.LE00.IN. Nestlyzer scores each measure 0–100 between the 5th and 95th percentile of the countries it covers. How the method works.