Imagine a world where the dead don’t stay dead and those who are left have to seek solace wherever they can. In the case of a zombie apocalypse some places are better for survival than others. 

In October, the Global Health Security Index released a report on the preparedness of countries in case of a zombie outbreak. The six criteria that the report looked at were:  preventing the spread/breakout of pathogens, early detection of pathogens, rapid response, a sufficient health care system, following norms (communication), and political and security risks.

Each country is graded on a scale of 1 to 100 and the U.S sits at 83. Just behind the U.S is the U.K with 77.9, and the Netherlands with 75.6. None of the countries made it to 100, so every country still has something wrong with how well it can protect its citizens.

The United States did well in 5 out of 6 of the criteria. The one they did not do so hot in is the risk of social unrest, terrorism, and low confidence in the government. That means that the U.S is likely to have a lot of rioting and anarchy. 

All of the top 15 most prepared countries have a high income economy, aside from Thailand, which is upper middle class, indicating that the best places to be for the zombie outbreak are wealthy

Some very wealthy countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are low on the list because of their inability to prevent and respond to the pathogens. Experts expected places like this to be extremely successful because of their wealth but they still did not make it above 50. The average of all 195 countries is 40.9.

There would be pros and cons to every country during the zombie apocalypse. The U.S, for example, would be a great place to seek shelter. A good robust health care system, good response times, and good preventative measures. However, there would be rioting and unrest with the general public.

Another worthwhile place to go for the zombie apocalypse would be the United Kingdom. They did well in all categories, like the U.S, but the U.K. would not have the amount of riots and unrest as the United States. That plays a pretty key role in surviving the apocalypse and, unfortunately, is determined by the people around you.

Michael Jones, a 4-year Army veteran, said “I would probably go to Canada, there’s a lot of really vast open spaces where there aren’t people, so there wouldn’t be a lot to worry about.”

Now obviously the zombie apocalypse isn’t going to happen anytime soon, but this information is still useful for real life. It’s good to know the places that you can be safe and the places that you can trust.