Which countries are the most racist? Survey says UK amongst least racist countries

A new study conducted by the Policy Institute of King’s College London has investigated countries’ levels of racism, finding the UK amongst the least racist countries overall.

The analysis, which forms a section of the World Values Survey (WVS) compared 24 countries’ global standards of trust and acceptance towards people from other backgrounds.

The results revealed that those in the UK were among the least racist countries, with only 2 per cent of Britons feeling uncomfortable about living next door to someone with different racial makeup.

However, the findings do not match the results of the other studies released this year, which showed the UK to be ‘far from racially just’.

Here is a look at the survey’s findings.

Which countries are the most racist?

Nationals from the 24 countries studied were asked who they would not want to have as a neighbour. The number of nationals who responded by saying they would not want to live next door to immigrants and/or foreign workers were then ranked, with Iran leading the list with 42 per cent.

The countries that showed prejudice towards immigrants and foreign workers were ranked as below.

1. Iran - 42 per cent
2. Russia - 32 per cent
3. Japan - 30 per cent
4. China - 26 per cent
5. Greece - 26 per cent
6. Morocco - 23 per cent
7. South Korea - 22 per cent
8. Egypt - 20 per cent
9. Poland - 19 per cent
10. Italy - 18 per cent
11. Philippines - 17 per cent
12. Indonesia - 17 per cent
13. Mexico - 14 per cent
14. Spain - 13 per cent
15. Nigeria - 13 per cent
16. France - 10 per cent
17. Australia - 9 per cent
18. Canada - 9 per cent
19. Unites States - 8 per cent
20. Norway - 5 per cent
21. United Kingdom - 5 per cent
22. Germany - 4 per cent
23. Brazil - 3 per cent
24. Sweden - 3 per cent

The UK has some of the highest levels of neighbourhood trust internationally, says @policyatkings

Research into social attitudes finds people are more relaxed with having neighbours who belong to traditionally marginalised groups.https://t.co/LDoPg6726l

— King's College London (@KingsCollegeLon) April 27, 2023

The countries were also ranked based on how many nationals said they would not want to live next door to people of a different race. Iran led this list, too.

1. Iran - 28 per cent
2. Greece - 24 per cent
3. Philippines - 21 per cent
4. China - 18 per cent
5. Egypt - 17 per cent
6. Nigeria - 16 per cent
7. Russia - 16 per cent
8. South Korea - 15 per cent
9. Japan - 15 per cent
10. Morocco - 14 per cent
11. Spain - 13 per cent
12. Italy - 12 per cent
13. Mexico - 11 per cent
14. Indonesia - 9 per cent
15. Poland - 7 per cent
16. Canada - 4 per cent
17. Australia - 4 per cent
18. France - 4 per cent
19. United States - 3 per cent
20. Germany - 3 per cent
21. Norway - 3 per cent
22. United Kingdom - 2 per cent
23. Brazil - 1 per cent
24. Sweden - 1 per cent

The findings of the survey clash with the results of recent research carried out by the universities of St Andrews, Manchester, and King’s College London, which found that one in three people from minority backgrounds in the UK have experienced racially motivated physical or verbal abuse.

Released in a book entitled Racism and Ethnic Inequality in a Time of Crisis, the two-year study had highlighted the widespread inequality and racial discrimination people in Britain face at work, schools, and more.

Talking to The Guardian, the lead of the study Nissa Finney, who is a professor of human geography at St Andrew’s, said: “The UK is immeasurably far from being a racially just society. The kinds of inequality we see in our study would not be there if we had a really just society.”