11 Most Creative Countries in the World

Ever wanted to know which are the 11 most creative countries in the world? Here’s your chance.

Martin Prosperity Institute, in their study Global Creativity Index 2015, ranked countries according to their creativity. But if you thought that this has something to do with art, you’d be wrong. Martin Prosperity Institute is all about the economy, and their study is about three things they deem most important when it comes to economic prosperity, namely talent, technology and tolerance, so-called 3Ts. Apparently, creativity is not only about creating music or paintings, but also about making cold cash.

Terminology aside, the study is very interesting. 3Ts are, according to the Martin Prosperity Institute, the cornerstones of thriving economy. Once you take a look at their list and especially when you compare it to the GDP, it is glaringly obvious that there’s a strong correlation between creativity (as Martin Prosperity Institute defines it) and economic success. Things get even more obvious when you compare it to the list of countries with the best quality of life in the world. All 11 most creative countries in the world are also present there as well, ranked in top 10, with the exception of Iceland and Finland (11th and 15th, respectively). So what is so important about 3Ts that it influences countries’ performance so drastically?

Talent and technology are pretty self-explanatory. Talent, groomed by a quality education, is the foundation of any prosperous economy. Countries with more talent will develop better technologies which will, in turn, help their economies compete on the world’s markets and perform better compared with their competition. Technology level is measured by the R&D investments and by the number of patents per million inhabitants. But it is the last T that is very interesting. Tolerance in this study was defined by two things: racial and ethnic tolerance and gay and lesbian tolerance. These two factors determine how much people are open to new ideas and foreign influences in their community. Places with higher levels of tolerance will be targets of brain drain migrations, hence increasing their talent pool which will drive their technology level up. Countries with low tolerance levels (BRIC countries scored especially low in this category) will find themselves on the wrong end of that process, with high brain drain, leading them on a downward spiral. The conclusion is that tolerance plays a significant role in not just economic success, but in overall satisfaction in life as well. Somebody should tell that to Donald Trump.

Here’s the list of 11 most creative countries in the world, with their respective Insider Monkey Best Quality of Life rank.

11. Norway

Technology: 18
Talent: 12
Tolerance: 9
Global Creativity Index: 0.883
Insider Monkey Best Quality of Life rank: 2

10. Netherlands

Technology: 20
Talent: 11
Tolerance: 6
Global Creativity Index: 0.889
Insider Monkey Best Quality of Life rank: 6

9. Singapore

Technology: 7
Talent: 5
Tolerance: 23
Insider Monkey Best Quality of Life rank: 8
Global Creativity Index: 0.896

8. Iceland

Technology: 26
Talent: 2
Tolerance: 2
Global Creativity Index: 0.913
Insider Monkey Best Quality of Life rank: 11

7. Sweden

Technology: 11
Talent: 8
Tolerance: 10
Global Creativity Index: 0.915
Insider Monkey Best Quality of Life rank: 4

6. Finland

Technology: 5
Talent: 3
Tolerance: 20
Global Creativity Index: 0.917
Insider Monkey Best Quality of Life rank: 15

5. Denmark

Technology: 10
Talent: 6
Tolerance: 13
Global Creativity Index: 0.917
Insider Monkey Best Quality of Life rank: 5

Denmark doesn’t excel in either one category, although it ranks pretty well in all three. So well in fact that it’s ranked 5^th among most creative countries in the world.

4. Canada

Technology: 13
Talent: 14
Tolerance: 1
Global Creativity Index: 0.920
Insider Monkey Best Quality of Life rank: 7

3. New Zealand

Technology: 7
Talent: 8
Tolerance: 3
Global Creativity Index: 0.949
Insider Monkey Best Quality of Life rank: 9

2. United States

Technology: 4
Talent: 3
Tolerance: 11
Global Creativity Index: 0.950
Insider Monkey Best Quality of Life rank: 10

1. Australia

Technology: 7
Talent: 1
Tolerance: 4
Global Creativity Index: 0.970
Insider Monkey Best Quality of Life rank: 1

With top place among 11 most creative countries in the world and the countries with the best quality of life in the world, Australia looks like a great place to live. Except the fact that most of its fauna seems designed with the sole purpose of killing humans in mind, but that’s proof that nothing is perfect in life.