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 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.”