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Finland is the latest country to be stripped of its AAA status
Finland is the latest country to be stripped of its AAA status Photograph: Sutton Images/Corbis
Finland is the latest country to be stripped of its AAA status Photograph: Sutton Images/Corbis

The AAA-rated club: which countries still make the grade?

This article is more than 9 years old

Few have won the battle to retain prized credit status after the financial crisis, with Finland the latest to be stripped of top rating

Finland has become the latest country to be stripped of its coveted AAA credit rating, after Standard & Poor’s downgraded it one notch to AA+. The Finnish prime minister, Alexander Stubb, described it as a “wake-up call”. Countries including the UK and US were among those to be dealt the humiliating blow of losing the top rating after the financial crisis. Here we look at where the latest downgrade leaves the global league table of ratings.

Finland’s downgrade leaves only two AAA countries in the eurozone

Eurozone flag
Eurozone flag Photograph: Getty Images

Germany and Luxembourg are the only two eurozone members still worthy of AAA status, according to Standard & Poor’s.

Only nine countries in world are AAA rated by all main agencies

Nine countries are AAA by all three main agencies Photograph: mtkang / Alamy/Alamy

While the three main ratings agencies – Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch – are divided on the credit worthiness of numerous countries, they are unanimous that the following are AAA rated:

  1. Australia
  2. Canada
  3. Denmark
  4. Germany
  5. Luxembourg
  6. Norway
  7. Singapore
  8. Sweden
  9. Switzerland

The UK is still AAA rated by Standard & Poor’s

George Osborne Photograph: Christopher Thomond for The Guardian./Christopher Thomond

When George Osborne took office in 2010, he vowed to safeguard Britain’s treasured AAA rating, arguing he would restore the nation’s economic credibility. The chancellor was left red-faced when Moody’s and Fitch stripped the UK of its top tier status in 2013. But all is not lost, as Standard & Poor’s retained in its AAA view of the UK, and in June, raised the outlook to stable from negative.

US fares better than UK

lorry with us flag in desert
US has fared better than the UK Photograph: 34/Ocean/Corbis

The world’s largest economy suffered credit rating humiliation in 2011 when Standard & Poor’s stripped it of its AAA rating. The US had been AAA rated by S&P since 1941, but the political stalemate that took the economy to the brink of default brought an end to that.

Moody’s and Fitch have kept the faith however, and maintain their AAA ratings.

At the bottom of the heap …

Scrapped cars at metal recycling site Photograph: JoeFox / Alamy/Alamy

On the other end of the credit rating scale are those countries with “junk” status. Here are some of the countries at the bottom of the pack with the worst ratings:

  1. Greece
  2. Bolivia
  3. Belize
  4. Cuba
  5. Cyprus
  6. Ecuador
  7. Egypt
  8. Jamaica
  9. Pakistan
  10. Ukraine
  11. Venezuela

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