MAPPED: The most powerful countries on Earth REVEALED
THE most powerful countries in the world have been named, with one nation topping the list for its economic and military might.
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The United States retained its status as the most powerful country on Earth, followed by heavyweights Russia and China.
According to US News’s annual World Report, the US “is the world’s most dominant economic and military power”.
With a huge £494billion defence budget, the US scored more than nine out of ten for its armed forces, international alliances, economic and political influences and leadership.
The most powerful countries in the world have been revealed
The United States retained its status as the most powerful country on Earth
The accolade comes despite 75 per cent of the 21,000 surveyed admitting they lost “some respect” for the US leadership after Donald Trump was elected President last November.
Russia was named the second most powerful nation in the world, spending five per cent of its GDP on the military.
Despite being pipped to the post by the US, the survey scored Russia’s military full marks, compared to 9.6 for the US.
Russia also scored 10 out of 10 for its leadership and political influence with the US boasting marks of 9.4 and 9.8 in the same categories.
Vladimir Putin continues to splash out on the armed forces, with his spending continuing to outstrip some NATO members.
China was named the third most powerful country on Earth, boasting the world’s largest military with experts predicting it will be the world’s largest economy by 2050.
Once again the United States retained its status as the most powerful country on Earth
The UK is the fourth most powerful country in the world, spending 1.9 per cent of its GDP on the armed forces.
US News said: “The United Kingdom is a highly developed nation that exerts considerable international economic, political, scientific and cultural influence.”
Economic powerhouse Germany rounds off the top five boasting strong scores for its international alliances, police influences and economic power.
The US has a £494billion defence budget
The US scored more than nine out of ten for its armed forces
Slovenia and Latvia were named the least powerful countries on the list coming in at numbers 79 and 80, both scoring 0 overall.
The rankings were compiled by asking 21,372 to rate nations on a number of issues, with statisticians then calculating averages across the spectrum.
China was named the third most powerful country on Earth, boasting the world’s largest military
The top 20 most powerful countries on Earth, according to the survey are:
1. United States
2. Russia
3. China
4. United Kingdom
5. Germany
6. France
7. Japan
8. Israel
9. Saudi Arabia
10. United Arab Emirates
11. South Korea
12. Canada
13. Turkey
14. Iran
15. Switzerland
16. India
17. Australia
18. Italy
19. Sweden
20. Pakistan
21. Netherlands
22. Spain
23. Qatar