The 20 best countries around the world to invest in now

Facebook Email icon An envelope. It indicates the ability to send an email.

Email Twitter icon A stylized bird with an open mouth, tweeting.

Twitter LinkedIn icon

LinkedIn Link icon An image of a chain link. It symobilizes a website link url.

Copy Link lighning bolt icon An icon in the shape of a lightning bolt.

This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in .

• U.S. News & World Report released its rankings for the best countries to invest in this year.
• Those rankings were determined by 7,000 worldwide business decision makers who scored each country on eight attributes, including entrepreneurship, economic stability, and favorable tax environment.
• The list differs greatly from last year's; three of this year's top five countries were not even ranked last year.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read preview

To qualify as a country worthy of investment, certain standards must be met.

A World Bank Group report in 2011 highlighted four factors — the country's people, environment, relationships, and framework — that propel both individuals and corporations to invest in a given country's natural resources, markets, technologies, or brands.

Guided by this report, U.S. News & World Report identified the best countries to invest in for 2019.

This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in .

To determine the overall list, U.S. News & World Report surveyed over 21,000 people worldwide about 80 different countries, measuring them on 65 different attributes, including cultural influence, entrepreneurship, and quality of life.

U.S. News focused on just eight of the 65 attributes: entrepreneurship, economic stability, favorable tax environment, innovation, skilled labor, technological expertise, dynamism, and corruption. Responses from over 7,000 survey participants — who act as decision makers in business around the globe — were then used to determine the ranking.

The most recent survey produced a completely different ranking last year; in 2018, the top five countries for investment were the Philippines, Indonesia, Poland, Malaysia, and Singapore. See below for this year's rankings, with the country's population and GDP (from U.S. News & World Report) and the GDP growth percentage in 2018 (from The World Bank).