Finland, the land of Santa Claus and Nokia. It is the sixth most globalised and the third-most IT-ready nation on the planet with a score of 5.23.

With a score of 9.7, Finland is also the least corrupt nation on earth. A score of 10 means a country is seen as being 'highly clean', and a score of zero means 'highly corrupt.'

A global survey of growth competitiveness ranks Finland as the world's best economy ahead of the United States and Sweden.

In the World Economic Forum's survey of business competitiveness, Finland was also placed first this year.

Finland has a very industrialised, mostly free-market economy. Its key economic sector is manufacturing: engineering, telecommunications, and electronics industries.

Santa Claus and Mrs Santa Claus arrive in Helsinki on November 23, 2003 at the start of the Christmas season.

Photograph: John Palmun/AFP/Getty Images