Economist Podcasts Country of the year: The Economist’s pick for 2025
42 snips
Dec 19, 2025 
Chris Lockwood, Deputy Foreign Editor at The Economist, leads the discussion on selecting Country of the Year. Josie DeLapp makes a compelling case for Syria, highlighting its political shifts and humanitarian improvements. Hal Hodson champions Argentina, emphasizing its remarkable economic recovery and policy reforms. The panel wrestles with the challenges facing each nation before ultimately declaring Syria the winner, showcasing its significant strides amid ongoing difficulties. Tune in for an insightful debate on global progress!
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
How Country Of The Year Is Defined
- The Economist defines Country Of The Year as the nation that improved the most, not the best or most important country.
- Improvement can be economic, political, cultural or geopolitical and must be markedly better than a year ago.
Crowdsourcing The Shortlist
- Chris Lockwood described using a company-wide email to crowdsource nominations and then narrowing them by discussion and shortlist.
- He noted amusing recurring nominations like Moldova and warned of reply-all hobby-horses skewing suggestions.
Popularity Doesn’t Equal Improvement
- Canada received the most nominations but was judged to have merely avoided catastrophic decline rather than improved.
- Chris Lockwood credited Mark Carney's principled stance but concluded Canada is worse off than a year earlier.