The United States tops a global ranking that seeks to measure the real wealth of citizens

The United States retained first place in the Wealth of Nations Index 2026 (WNI), a ranking compiled by the Warsaw Enterprise Institute that seeks to measure the effective wealth of citizens. The report attributes U.S. leadership to the strength of its private sector and warns that, in most developed countries, public spending generates less value today than it did a decade ago.

The index has been compiling data since 2015 and seeks to answer the following question: Which countries best convert their resources into prosperity for their citizens? To do so, it analyzes two key factors. The first is the strength of the private sector, while the second is the state’s ability to deliver results in areas such as security, health, education, infrastructure, and institutions.

In other words, it combines the wealth generated by the private sector with an assessment of the quality of public services, seeking to measure how much value citizens actually receive from economic activity and the state. The combination of these two elements determines each country’s final position in the ranking.

In addition to the strength of the private sector, the indicators measured are public safety, health, education, justice and institutions, infrastructure, the environment, and other government functions.

In the 2026 edition, the United States once again topped the rankings, followed by Norway and Switzerland. However, the authors found a generally negative trend: the efficiency of public spending deteriorated in 27 of the 40 countries analyzed over the past decade.

The Keys to U.S. Leadership

The United States ranked first on the list with 1,000 points. Although it did not lead in all indicators, it earned 694 points for the size of its private economy per capita (which includes private consumption and private investment) and 306 points for public services.

Compared to 2025, the United States increased its final score by four points. According to the report, this was because the score for the U.S. private economy grew by 10 points, although the contribution from public services fell by six.

Second place went to Norway, with 919 points, while Switzerland rounded out the top three with 877 points.

As for the biggest changes in the ranking, Greece and Croatia recorded the highest growth, while Ireland and the Czech Republic suffered the steepest declines.

The WNI highlighted the significant differences among the top three in the ranking, though it noted the existence of a powerful common denominator.

“The three countries at the top could hardly be more different in how they run their affairs, yet they share one thing: a powerful private economy backed by a state that, on the whole, works,” the report notes.

Although Norway and Switzerland outperform the United States on several indicators related to the quality of public services and institutional efficiency, the report concludes that neither economy matches the dynamism of the U.S. private sector.

According to the authors, the combination of consumption, investment, and business activity in the United States offset the more modest results in some areas of government performance.

Since 2015, the United States has topped every edition of the ranking with the sole exception of 2022.

The overall picture is discouraging

Beyond each country’s position in the ranking, the authors argue that the overall trend observed over the past decade is concerning.

Indeed, the WNI notes that, in 27 of the 40 countries analyzed, the value generated by public spending is lower today than in 2015, suggesting that increased resources allocated to the government did not always translate into better outcomes for citizens.

When it comes to assigning blame, the authors point to the pandemic as the clearest trigger for the decline.

The study also emphasizes that private investment is a more robust driver of long-term prosperity than growth fueled exclusively by consumption or increased government spending.

The Rise of Eastern Europe

One of the most striking findings in the report is the progress made by several Eastern European countries over the past decade. While many European countries showed signs of stagnation, nations such as Romania, Croatia and Bulgaria were among those that improved their performance the most since 2015.

According to the authors, much of this progress was driven by private-sector growth and increased investment. The report argues that these economies managed to narrow part of the gap separating them from Western Europe thanks to a sustained expansion of their economic activity and improvements in various indicators of government performance.