Scoring Breakdown & Key Factors

A 0–100 composite score summarising a country's fiscal and economic condition relative to its peer group. Scores of 65 or above are GREEN, 40–64 are YELLOW, and below 40 are RED. Countries with data in fewer than two pillars receive NO DATA.

A quick-read signal derived from the Health Score. GREEN means the country is performing well within its peer group. YELLOW signals caution — some areas of stress or underperformance. RED signals meaningful fiscal stress relative to peers.

Each country is scored across eleven pillars. Pillar scores are displayed on a T-score scale centred at 50: a score of 50 is the peer-group average, 60 is roughly one standard deviation above average, and 40 is one below. If a pillar has no data, its weight is redistributed to the remaining pillars.

The statistical technique used to compare countries within a peer group. Each indicator is standardised so the peer-group average equals 0 and one standard deviation equals 1. This means all scores are relative — a country's GREEN or RED reflects its standing against comparable economies, not an absolute global threshold.

Scoring is always performed within a peer group, never globally. A G7 country is only compared to the other six G7 nations; a Frontier market is only compared to other Frontier markets. This makes scores meaningful — comparing Germany's debt level to Cambodia's would produce no useful insight.

Can the government meet its long-term obligations? Scored across four equal sub-dimensions (25% each). Balance Sheet: debt-to-GDP ratio, government net financial worth (financial assets minus total liabilities as % of GDP), and the composite sovereign credit rating from S&P, Moody's, and Fitch. Fiscal Flow: fiscal balance as % of GDP, interest expense as % of GDP, and defence spending as % of GDP. Interest Rates: bank lending rate, deposit rate, and real interest rate. Debt Service Capacity: debt distress ratio (total debt service as % of export earnings — the UN SDG 17.4.1 indicator, covering ~122 countries) and interest burden (interest payments as % of government revenue — covering ~200 countries). High debt, persistent deficits, a poor credit rating, a deep net liability position, very high lending rates, or heavy debt service burdens all push this score down.

Does the country hold enough reserves and financial depth to meet short-term external needs? Derived from four indicators: foreign currency reserves in months of import cover (shock absorption capacity), current account balance as a percentage of GDP (external trade position — surplus is better), external debt as a percentage of GNI (rollover risk — inverted), and broad money as a percentage of GDP (financial system depth). A country with ample reserves, a current account surplus, low external debt, and a deep financial system has the most liquidity headroom.

Is the economy expanding, productive, and raising living standards? Derived from eight indicators: real GDP growth rate (year-on-year), the unemployment rate, FDI inflows as a percentage of GDP (foreign investment confidence), gross capital formation as a percentage of GDP (domestic fixed-asset investment), GDP per capita in constant 2017 PPP USD (real living standards — removes exchange-rate and price-level distortions), labour productivity (GDP per employed person, PPP — the fundamental driver of sustainable wage growth), long-term unemployment rate (12+ months as % of labour force — structural slack that headline unemployment masks; inverted), and real wage growth (year-on-year % change in mean nominal wages, ILO modelled; positive = improving household purchasing power). Strong growth, low structural unemployment, rising productivity, improving living standards, and positive real wage growth together signal an economy generating sustainable prosperity.

Are people healthy, educated, and supported by functional public systems? This pillar combines an education index (secondary enrolment, tertiary enrolment, education spending) with thirteen WHO health indicators (life expectancy, infant mortality, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular mortality, UHC coverage, physician density, vaccination coverage, smoking prevalence, PM2.5, age-standardised suicide rate, psychiatrists per 100,000, depression prevalence), plus three World Happiness Report indicators from the Gallup World Poll (happiness score, social support, freedom to make life choices). Each of the 17 inputs carries equal weight within the pillar.

Is the economic environment predictable, non-inflationary, and financially sound? Derived from eleven indicators: CPI inflation (year-on-year, scored against a target band — both deflation and overheating are penalised), Producer Price Index YoY % (PPI — upstream factory-gate price pressure that leads consumer inflation by 3–6 months; inverted), food CPI sub-index YoY % (food inflation directly impacts household welfare and social stability; inverted), 10-year government bond yields (inverted — higher yields signal market risk premium), bank non-performing loans as a percentage of total loans (inverted — NPLs reflect credit stress in the banking sector), bank capital-to-assets ratio (a buffer against banking sector shocks), the 1-month equity index change (a real-time market confidence signal), domestic credit to the private sector as a percentage of GDP (depth of financial intermediation), external debt service as a percentage of GNI (inverted), broad money growth rate (inverted — rapid M2/M3 expansion signals future inflation pressure), and the OECD Consumer Confidence Indicator (CCI, normalised; OECD member countries only). High inflation, elevated PPI, food price spikes, high bond yields, elevated NPLs, heavy debt service burdens, or excessive money supply growth all push this score down.

How well-governed is the country? Scored across five equal sub-dimensions (20% each), so no single theme can dominate the pillar regardless of how many sources cover it. Anti-Corruption draws on the World Bank WGI Control of Corruption, V-Dem Political Corruption Index, the WJP Rule of Law Index factor on absence of corruption, and Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index (TI CPI 0–100). Rule of Law & Institutions combines WGI Government Effectiveness, WGI Rule of Law, WGI Regulatory Quality, V-Dem Rule of Law measures, WJP constraints on government and regulatory enforcement factors, GSoD Judicial Independence, and the Open Budget Index (fiscal transparency). Civil & Political Rights draws on WGI Voice & Accountability and Political Stability, V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index, Regime Type and Civil Society index, Freedom House Political Rights and Civil Liberties ratings (both inverted), WJP Fundamental Rights and Open Government factors, and GSoD Clean Elections and Checks on Government scores. Press & Media Freedom combines the RSF Press Freedom Score (0–100, Reporters Without Borders) and GSoD Media Integrity (International IDEA). Citizen Perception draws on the World Values Survey (WVS) government confidence and institutional trust indicators, capturing popular legitimacy of democratic institutions and public sector effectiveness from the citizen's perspective. Sources: World Bank WGI, V-Dem, Freedom House, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), World Justice Project (WJP), Transparency International (TI), International IDEA GSoD, the International Budget Partnership Open Budget Index, and the World Values Survey.

How exposed is the country to climate transition risk and physical climate change, how efficiently does it use energy, and how well does it protect ecosystems and biodiversity? Scored across four equal sub-dimensions (25% each): Energy Transition, Carbon Emissions, Climate Vulnerability, and Biodiversity. Energy Transition and Carbon Emissions are derived from World Bank WDI, IRENA, and Ember data (renewable energy share, CO₂ per capita, CO₂ intensity, renewable adoption rate, coal and fossil fuel shares). Climate Vulnerability comes from the ND-GAIN Country Index (Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative), measuring exposure across food, water, health, ecosystems, habitat, and infrastructure sectors. Biodiversity is measured by the Yale Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ecosystem vitality and species protection indicators, capturing the condition and protection of natural habitats critical for long-run economic and food security.

Are structural workforce trends helping or hurting the fiscal outlook? Derived from twelve indicators: old-age dependency ratio (elderly dependents per 100 working-age people), working-age population share, median age (inverted — older = more pension pressure), fertility rate (lower = shrinking future workforce), population growth rate, urban population share (higher urbanisation typically correlates with productivity), youth unemployment rate (inverted — structural waste of labour), labour force participation rate, gender labour participation ratio (female/male LFPR ×100 — higher parity is better) capturing workforce utilisation across the gender divide, net migration rate (per 1,000), international migrant stock as a percentage of population, and refugee population per 1,000 (an indicator of displacement pressures). Ageing populations, low fertility, high youth unemployment, wide gender labour gaps, and large refugee inflows each place growing pressure on pension, healthcare, and social welfare systems.

How exposed is the country to violence, energy, water, food, cyber, and pandemic shocks? Derived from ten indicators across three sources. World Bank WDI contributes intentional homicide rate (per 100,000 people, sourced from UNODC — a direct measure of societal safety and public order), energy import dependence (net energy imports as % of energy use), fossil fuel share of total energy, energy intensity per $1,000 GDP, water stress (freshwater withdrawal as % of available resources), freshwater per capita, food insecurity (% facing moderate or severe food insecurity), and undernourishment rate. The ITU Global Cybersecurity Index (0–100) captures legal, technical, organisational, and cooperative cyber capacity. The GHS Index (NTI / Johns Hopkins) measures pandemic preparedness across prevention, detection, response, and health system dimensions (0–100). Higher homicide rates, energy import dependence, fossil fuel reliance, energy intensity, water stress, food insecurity, and undernourishment are scored negatively; higher cyber and pandemic preparedness scores are positive.

How diversified, logistics-capable, and innovation-driven is the country's economic base? Derived from eight indicators: export concentration (Herfindahl index — lower is more diversified), export product count, export market penetration (how many countries import from this economy), R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP, researchers per million people, Logistics Performance Index (customs efficiency, infrastructure, and timeliness of shipments), commodity export dependence (fuel + ores/metals as a share of merchandise exports — inverted, lower is better), and high-technology export share (R&D-intensive goods as a percentage of manufactured exports). Countries with narrow export bases, poor logistics, or high commodity dependence are more vulnerable to price shocks and structural stagnation. Trade openness (Exports+Imports/GDP) is shown as enrichment context — not scored, because high openness alone does not distinguish resilient integration from fragile commodity dependence.

How fairly is prosperity shared across the population, and how broadly can people access the financial system? Derived from eight indicators across four sources. The World Bank Poverty & Inequality Platform (PIP) contributes the Gini coefficient (income inequality 0–100), the poverty headcount ratio (share of population below the $3.65/day international poverty line), and the income share of the bottom 40% of earners. The ILO Social Security Inquiry contributes social protection coverage (share of population with access to at least one benefit) and the labour income share (wages and salaries as a percentage of GDP). The UNDP Human Development Reports contribute the Gender Inequality Index (0–1), combining reproductive health, political empowerment, and labour market participation dimensions. The World Bank Global Findex survey contributes account ownership (share of adults with a formal or mobile money account) and formal borrowing rate (share of adults who borrowed from a financial institution). The Gini coefficient, poverty headcount, and Gender Inequality Index are inverted — higher values are worse. All other indicators are scored positively.

Maps to debt-to-GDP, the absolute deficit in dollar terms, and government net financial worth. The debt-to-income framing expresses gross borrowing relative to the economy. The dollar deficit shows the annual cash gap. Net financial worth (financial assets minus all liabilities as % of GDP) gives the full balance-sheet picture — a country that owns large state assets can carry more gross debt sustainably.

Maps to interest expense as a percentage of government revenue. Shows how many cents of every dollar collected in taxes goes straight to servicing debt — before spending on anything else. A household spending 30 cents of every dollar of income on debt interest has very little room to manoeuvre.

Maps to foreign currency reserves. A country with large reserves can absorb shocks — currency crises, sudden capital outflows, commodity price swings — without immediate distress. Shown in months of import cover: a figure of 3 months is often considered the minimum safe level.

Maps to the composite sovereign credit rating (0–21 scale). Higher means safer. Investment-grade ratings (BBB−/Baa3 and above, corresponding to roughly 9 or higher on the 0–21 scale) allow governments to borrow at much lower interest rates. Sub-investment-grade ("junk") ratings dramatically increase borrowing costs.

Maps to total debt service (principal plus interest) as a share of export earnings — the UN SDG 17.4.1 indicator (World Bank WDI DT.TDS.DECT.EX.ZS). It answers the question: for every $100 this country earns from selling goods and services abroad, how many dollars go straight to debt repayments? Ratios below 10% are comfortable; 10–20% indicates moderate pressure; above 20% is the IMF warning zone; above 30% is considered severe distress. Unlike debt-to-GDP, this metric captures whether a country can actually fund its repayments from its own foreign-currency earnings rather than by rolling debt over. Source: World Bank WDI, covering approximately 122 countries (mainly low- and middle-income), updated annually.

Maps to government interest payments as a share of total government revenue (IMF DataMapper: interest expense % GDP divided by revenue % GDP). It answers the question: for every $100 collected in taxes, how many dollars go straight to paying interest on the national debt — before a cent is spent on public services? Below 5% is very low; 5–10% is moderate and typical of well-rated sovereigns; 10–20% is elevated; above 20% is the IMF warning zone. Unlike debt-to-GDP, this captures whether the government can currently afford its debt from its own income rather than by borrowing more. Source: IMF DataMapper, covering approximately 200 countries, updated twice yearly.

Maps to GDP growth rate (year-on-year, inflation-adjusted). A growing economy generally produces more tax revenue, makes fixed debt cheaper in relative terms, and creates jobs. Sustained negative growth (recession) typically leads to rising deficits and deteriorating fiscal ratios.

Maps to CPI year-on-year change. A small positive rate (1–3%) is generally healthy; it signals demand and eases the real burden of fixed debt. Persistent high inflation, however, erodes purchasing power, destabilises bond markets, and forces central banks to raise rates — which feeds back into higher government borrowing costs.

Maps to the share of total electricity generation capacity built from renewable sources (solar, wind, hydro, bioenergy, geothermal). Source: IRENA, with World Bank WDI as fallback. Important: this figure measures installed capacity, not actual electricity produced, and it excludes nuclear — nuclear is low-carbon but not classified as renewable. A country could have a high renewable capacity share but still generate significant electricity from fossil fuels if those plants run more hours per day.

Maps to actual electricity generation broken down by fuel source (Ember). The fossil figure shows the share of electricity generated from coal, gas, and oil. The non-fossil figure is everything else — renewables plus nuclear. Because nuclear is included in "non-fossil", this figure will generally be higher than the IRENA renewable capacity figure for countries with significant nuclear fleets (e.g. France, USA). The two measures are complementary: IRENA tells you the renewable buildout; Ember tells you how the lights are actually kept on.

Maps to CO₂ emissions per capita (tonnes per person per year). Combines industrial, transport, and energy-related emissions. Higher values mean greater exposure to carbon pricing risks and long-run climate transition costs. Source: World Bank WDI.

Maps to the ND-GAIN Country Index (Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative). The vulnerability score (0–1) measures how exposed a country is to the physical effects of climate change across six life-supporting sectors: food, water, health, ecosystems, human habitat, and infrastructure. It combines exposure (projected climate hazards), sensitivity (how dependent the country is on affected sectors), and adaptive capacity (social resources available to respond). The overall ND-GAIN score (0–100) adds readiness — the economic, governance, and social capacity to convert investment into adaptation action. Higher overall score = better prepared. The vulnerability score is inverted in the Environmental pillar — higher vulnerability is worse. Source: University of Notre Dame, updated annually.

Maps to the Gini coefficient (0–100). A score of 0 means every person earns exactly the same; 100 means one person earns everything. In practice, most countries score between 25 (very equal, e.g. Nordic countries) and 65 (highly unequal, e.g. parts of sub-Saharan Africa or Latin America). This is an inverted indicator — a lower Gini is better.

Maps to the World Bank poverty headcount ratio at the $3.65/day lower-middle-income international poverty line. Shows what percentage of the population cannot afford basic necessities at this threshold. An inverted indicator — lower is better.

Maps to the income share of the bottom 40% of earners. If the bottom 40% receive only 8% of national income, the household analogy is: most of the family's earnings go to one or two members while the rest scrape by. Higher is better.

Maps to social protection coverage from the ILO Social Security Inquiry. Shows the share of the population with access to at least one social protection programme. Think of it as: what percentage of people have something to fall back on if they lose their job, fall ill, or retire? Higher is better.

Maps to labour income as a percentage of GDP. In a household analogy: of all the money the country earns, how much goes to workers versus business owners and investors? A declining labour share means workers receive a smaller slice of a growing pie — higher is better.

Maps to the UNDP Gender Inequality Index (0–1). Combines three dimensions: reproductive health (maternal mortality ratio, adolescent birth rate), empowerment (share of parliamentary seats, secondary education attainment by sex), and labour market participation. A GII of 0.5 means women face substantially worse outcomes than men in at least one dimension. Lower is better.

Maps to armed_conflict_intensity from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP). Scale: 0 = peaceful, 1 = minor conflict (25–999 battle deaths per year), 2 = war (1,000 or more battle deaths per year). Higher intensity is worse and scored negatively in the Security pillar.

Maps to epi_ecosystem_vitality from the Yale Environmental Performance Index. Measures the condition of ecosystems — forests, fisheries, and biodiversity habitat. Scale 0–100, higher is better. A low score signals degraded natural systems that underpin long-run economic and food security.

Maps to epi_species_protection from the Yale Environmental Performance Index. The Species Protection Index measures how well a country protects natural habitats critical for biodiversity. Scale 0–100, higher is better. Source: Yale EPI.

Maps to women_in_parliament_pct — the percentage of seats in the lower (or unicameral) house of parliament held by women. Higher is better and feeds into the Governance pillar as a measure of political representation parity. Source: IPU Parline, updated monthly.

Maps to wvs_govt_confidence from the World Values Survey. Shows the share of citizens who express "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in the national government. Higher is better and reflects legitimacy of public institutions. Source: World Values Survey.

Maps to wvs_institutional_trust from the World Values Survey. Measures the average share of citizens expressing confidence in courts, parliament, and civil service. Higher is better. Strong institutional trust reduces governance risk and supports policy credibility. Source: World Values Survey.

The seven largest advanced economies: United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan, Canada, and Italy. These countries are scored only against each other — their fiscal positions, debt levels, and institutional quality operate in a fundamentally different context from emerging or frontier markets.

The broader G20 grouping, including major emerging economies such as China, India, Brazil, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia, Mexico, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, and the EU. Countries in this group share broadly comparable capital market access and economic scale.

Countries with developing but growing capital markets and middle-income economies. Includes much of Latin America, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Scored within this group — their fiscal norms, borrowing conditions, and institutional capacity differ significantly from G20 peers.

Smaller, less liquid economies at an earlier stage of development. Includes much of Sub-Saharan Africa, smaller island nations, and lower-income economies. These countries often have limited access to international capital markets and face different structural constraints than emerging markets.

Primary source for core fiscal indicators: debt-to-GDP, fiscal balance, interest expense, GDP growth, CPI inflation, unemployment, foreign reserves coverage, and government net financial worth. Data comes from the IMF World Economic Outlook DataMapper API. Covers 190+ countries, updated annually with rolling forecasts.

Source for GDP in current USD, GDP growth, unemployment, foreign reserves in USD, the WGI Government Effectiveness indicator, several environmental and demographic indicators, and intentional homicide rate (sourced from UNODC and mirrored on the World Bank WDI as VC.IHR.PSRC.P5). The Data360 API is used (more reliable than the legacy v2 API). Data is typically 1–2 years lagged for most indicators.

Source for CPI inflation, food CPI sub-index (CP01), Producer Price Index (PPI), unemployment, long-term unemployment (12+ months), and 10-year government bond yields for OECD member countries (~38 nations). More granular and timely than IMF or World Bank for the countries it covers. CPI and LFS indicators cover 11 core members; KEI (bond yields, PPI) covers 33 members.

Source for 10-year government bond yields for the G7 countries and Australia. FRED tracks individual bond series for each country with high-frequency updates.

The three major credit rating agencies each assign sovereign ratings on their own scales. FinHealth maps each to a common 0–21 numeric scale (AAA/Aaa = 21, D/C = 0) and averages the available agency ratings to produce a single composite score per country. Updated monthly.

Source for country-level renewable energy share of total energy consumption, used in the Environmental pillar alongside the World Bank WDI figure. IRENA data is the basis for the computed renewable adoption rate (year-on-year percentage point change).

Source for secondary net enrolment rate, tertiary gross enrolment rate, and government education expenditure (% of GDP) — the three inputs to the education index. Data is often lagged 2–3 years for lower-income countries; World Bank WDI figures are used as a fallback.

Source for per-country electricity generation mix data: the percentage of electricity actually generated from coal, gas, nuclear, solar, wind, hydro, and bioenergy. Ember classifies fuels as fossil (coal, gas, oil) or non-fossil (everything else, including nuclear). This means Ember's "non-fossil" figure is not the same as "renewable" — nuclear is low-carbon but not renewable, so countries with large nuclear fleets (France, USA, South Korea) will show a higher non-fossil share than their renewable capacity share from IRENA. Coal share and total fossil share feed into the Environmental pillar score as negative indicators. Ember covers 200+ countries and is updated annually, with data typically lagging by one calendar year.

Source for the climate vulnerability and overall preparedness scores used in the Environmental pillar. The ND-GAIN Country Index covers 180+ UN member states and is updated annually by the University of Notre Dame. Vulnerability (0–1) combines exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity across six sectors. The overall ND-GAIN score (0–100) adds economic, governance, and social readiness. Data is downloaded automatically each month from gain.nd.edu. Free and open-access; no API key required.

Source for all thirteen health indicators in the Human Development pillar: life expectancy, infant mortality, obesity prevalence, diabetes prevalence, cardiovascular disease mortality, UHC service coverage, physician density, vaccination coverage, smoking prevalence, PM2.5 concentration, age-standardised suicide rate, psychiatrists per 100,000, and depression prevalence. WHO data typically lags 1–3 years; the adapter uses a 5-year lookback window to maximise data availability.