[Denmark Danish flag fan]Denmark ranks as the highest-performing wealthy country in a ranking of nations that improve lives in the developing world, according to this year's Commitment to Development Index. The US placed 23rd out of 27 countries. Created by the Center for Global Development, the CDI ranks the 27 richest countries in terms of aid, finance, technology, environment, trade, security, and migration — specifically in terms of how they help poorer countries. Sweden, Finland, France, and Germany rounded out the top five. "In our integrated world, decisions made by rich countries about their own policies and behavior have repercussions for people in developing nations," the report read. "The [CDI] celebrates countries whose policies benefit not only themselves, but also the development of others, and promote our common good." Beyond just airlifting supplies during a disaster, the CDI rewards countries based on their financial investments, policies and actions fighting climate change, trade deals, and warmth toward refugees, among other considerations . Denmark won top honors for its first-place rank in security and aid, in addition to placing highly across the other five metrics. Sweden and Finland, two other Scandinavian nations, also placed highly in most categories. The report noted Denmark still had "room for improvement," however. "Even though it takes a large share of international refugees, Denmark accepts the lowest proportion of students from developing countries of all countries assessed," the report read. Notably, the US placed below all of the Central European Visegrád countries, which include Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland, "whose income per head is less than half that in the United States." The US lagged in scores related to finance, environment, and aid. Despite a global agreement that countries would devote 0.7% of their national income to environmental efforts, the US commits just 0.18%, the report found. HERE IS THE FULL RANKING: 1. Denmark 2. Sweden 3. Finland 4. France 5. Germany 6. Portugal 7. Netherlands 8. United Kingdom 9. Norway 10. New Zealand 11. Austria 12. Spain 13. Luxembourg 14. Italy 15. Belgium 16. Ireland 17. Canada 18. Australia 19. Hungary 20. Czech Republic 21. Slovakia 22. Poland 23. United States 24. Switzerland 25. Greece 26. Japan 27. South Korea NOW WATCH: Denmark has a giant walkable map of the world that is carved out of islands
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