CS Global Partners – World’s leading Citizenship by Investment Solutions firm has recently released its World Citizenship Report, featuring an extensive World Citizenship Index. On the basis of five key motivators, Denmark, Switzerland and Finland have been ranked in the top three positions.
The World Citizenship Report uses a unique research methodology to evaluate the factors that drive high-net-worth individuals to consider new citizenship. Unlike other reports that solely base citizenship on visa-free travel, the WCR presents the best citizenships in the world, based on several detailed factors held in high regard by global citizens.
Micha Emmett – CEO of CS Global Partners stated that for the 2023 edition of the WCR, they took a unique look at the needs of global citizens. The newly expanded audience covered 1000 mass affluent participants from across the globe. She added that the participants came from different backgrounds, and cultures with different needs and pain points. However, she emphasized that all participants had one thing in common which was “freedom”.
“If an individual is unable to satisfy their esteem or self-actualisation needs in their home country, it may very well be the catalyst for people to decide to invest in a second citizenship and/or immigrate to a new country,” Micha Emmett – CEO of CS Global Partners.
She added that for certain individuals finding a new country to call home may offer them the opportunity to get access to basic necessities, a sense of safety and security with the ability to get more opportunities for personal and professional growth.
Emmett said that the World Citizenship Report highlights the importance of nationality, it also helps demystify the standing of each country in the world in the context of the motivators that determine what can be considered important in a person’s life to thrive.
While pointing to the recent findings of the World Citizenship Report, Emmett added that even though the top ten countries in 2022 and 2023 are remarkably similar, there was still some movement up and down.
She added that Switzerland ranked number one in 2022 but fell to the second spot in 2023, with Denmark usurping the first spot in 2023.
The Republic of Korea experienced the biggest drop; in 2022, it ranked at number 28, falling 20 spots to number 48 in 2023. As per CEO Micha Emmett, the biggest climber was Sao Tome and Principe, which ranked at number 106 in 2022, climbing 27 spots to 79 in 2023.
Top Five World Citizenship Index Scores
- Denmark- 87.6
- Switzerland – 87.3
- Finland- 86.8
- Sweden – 85.9
- New Zealand- 85.8
Drawing on research conducted over years, the WCR presented the data compiled in the World Citizenship Index (WCI), an innovative tool that adopts an integrated approach to ranking citizenships around the world.
CS Global Partners say that to release the World Citizenship Index they leveraged their unparalleled network of industry experts and access to global citizens to isolate the major motivations for attaining second citizenship. The factors were then explored and validated by surveying the global mass affluent population and the value of second citizenship.
Notably, the research was performed in three stages, where in the initial stage in-depth interviews were conducted with a focused group of global citizens as well as with the experts of the citizenship solution industry to identify the most significant themes to the value of the second citizenship.
The World Citizenship Index (WCI) ranks countries according to five motivators. The motivators include the best citizenship for business, financial freedom, travel, quality of life, and safety & security.
Safety and security: This motivator took into account the potentiality of citizenship to allow escaping from a situation of conflict. Data collected for this motivator highlights some of the safest countries in the world.
Economic Opportunity- It measured the overall ability of a nation to extend wealth, material comfort, and other key benefits of a strong economy to all its citizens. This motivator laid out some nations and citizenships best for business across the planet.
Quality of Life: It measured and ranked the advancement of the level of development of a distinct nation in terms of its ability to provide its citizens a high quality of life across physical, cultural, and social domains of existence.
Global Mobility: According to WCR, the concept of global citizenship relies on the fundamental aspect of free movement across different jurisdictions, without which the potential advantages cannot be fully attained. Japan ranked highest in this aspect, with Singapore, Germany, Spain, and Finland following closely behind. Denmark claimed the fifth spot, while Switzerland ranked seventh.
Financial freedom- It measured the ability of a jurisdiction to provide a favourable and stable regulatory climate for the registration and performance of businesses, as well as the holding of personal and business assets. The global mobility and travel motivator measures the number of different jurisdictions that citizens can access visa-free with a given citizenship. Having passage to a greater number of destinations can greatly improve the ability of an individual to access exclusive opportunities and experiences in new regions and markets.
The research conducted by CS Global Partners for the WCR and the WCI transcended the traditional concept of valuing citizenship through the use of an ethical perspective.
The WCI attributes greater importance to the diverse attitudes towards the key aspects that characterise belonging to a country and holding its citizenship status. The innovative tool provides a comprehensive and detailed understanding of the best citizenships in the world based on multiple factors, making it an invaluable resource for high-net-worth individuals seeking to obtain citizenship through investment.
