Which is The Economist’s country of the year for 2021?
In a gloomy year, a few stars shone
EACH YEAR The Economist picks a “country of the year”. The award goes not to the biggest, the richest or the happiest, but to the one that in our view improved the most in 2021. Past winners have included Uzbekistan (for abolishing slavery), Colombia (for making peace) and Tunisia (for embracing democracy).
This year was a difficult one. Covid-19 continued to spread misery, as brilliantly designed vaccines were unevenly distributed and new variants such as Omicron emerged. In many countries civil liberties and democratic norms were eroded. Russia’s main opposition leader was jailed. Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol. Civil wars gripped Ethiopia and Myanmar. Yet amid the gloom, a few countries shone.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline "Triumphal honours"
From the December 16th 2021 edition
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