'Country of the Year': Political turnaround earns this war-scarred nation a nod

MANILA, Philippines — British current affairs journal The Economist named Syria as its country of the year for 2025, saying it was the nation that improved the most over the past year.

In its annual assessment, the magazine said it does not select the happiest, richest, or most powerful country as "country of the year," since these predictably skew toward certain regions, such as the Nordic countries or superpowers. Instead, it chooses the country it judges to have made the greatest improvement during the year.

The Economist said Syria’s selection followed major changes in the country’s circumstances, which the magazine described as a sharp improvement compared with previous years marked by war, repression and isolation.

Its improvements, it said, were markedly political, after forcing tyrant Bashar al-Assad to flee. The ruler who emerged, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, was a jihadist but proved to be more progressive than expected.

"Women are not obliged to cover up or stay at home. Entertainment and, yes, alcohol are allowed. Mr Sharaa has brought about a series of positive surprises, holding the country together and forging good relations with America and the Gulf states," the magazine wrote.

Its economy started to recover as well, and 3 millions Syrians returned home. "Syria in 2025 is far happier and more peaceful than it was in 2024," The Economist added.

The magazine stressed that Syria remains poor and fragile, but said the change in trajectory over the past year was significant enough to merit the top spot.

Other countries mentioned

In the same article, the Economist also cited several other countries as examples of places that improved during the year.

These countries were:

• Argentina, which the magazine said would be the runner-up to Syria, due to "impressive" and "far-reaching" though painful economic reforms under its president, Javier Milei.
• Canada, due to its choice of Mark Carney as Justin Trudeau's successor.
• Moldova, where voters thumbed down a pro-Russia party.
• Brazil, which successfully prosecuted its previously far-right leader, Jair Bolsonaro.
• South Korea, which recovered from democratic threats and put its ex-president on trial.

The magazine did not rank these countries or provide detailed explanations for each, noting only that they had shown improvement over the past year.