WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States ranks near the bottom of the list of countries with the best commitment to global development, while France dropped several places, a report released yesterday found.

The rankings showed Sweden claimed the top spot, overtaking Denmark, according to the Center for Global Development (CGD), a research institution focused on poverty reduction.

The rankings look at a country’s contribution in several areas, such as aid, finance, technology, trade and migration.

“Good development policy is about much more than foreign aid,” CGD President Masood Ahmed said in a statement.

“While aid is important, US policymakers need to assess all the ways their choices — from refugee policies to tariffs — help or hinder developing countries.”

The United States remained in the 23rd spot out of 27 rich countries in the survey, while France fell three places to seventh, the CGD report said.

The United States’ poor performance in the annual rankings was driven by low scores on foreign aid, finance — where it ranked last — and environmental policies, which were near the bottom, according to the report.

While the United States is the largest aid donor in nominal terms, the amount was “far below its international commitment”.

The United States scored well on security and trade, although new tariffs could drag down the US position the future, the report said.

Japan, Poland, Greece and South Korea fell below the US in the rankings.

European countries, meanwhile, took the top 12 spots in this year’s ranking.

France is about average on aid, but above average in commitment to international finance. Sweden scored near the top in six out of the seven categories.