Each Christmas The Economist names a country of the year. Not the happiest: that would nearly always be Scandinavian, making for a dull, predictable contest. Nor the most influential: that would always be a superpower. Rather, we try to identify the country that has improved the most, whether economically, politically or in any other way that matters.

The two strongest contenders this year are very different: Argentina and Syria. Argentina’s improvement has been economic. Its president, Javier Milei, began far-reaching free-market reforms in 2023, hoping to jolt his country out of more than a century of statism and stagnation. Such reforms—abolishing price controls, curbing spending and ditching distorting subsidies—are exceptionally hard because they are exceptionally painful; many previous reformers have failed. Yet Mr Milei stuck to his chainsaw in 2025, and voters stuck with him.

Argentina could still fail. The Peronists who misruled it for generations are itching to return, should Mr Milei stumble. And the president has many flaws: he is intolerant of critics and beset by corruption scandals. But if his reforms are sustained, they could permanently alter Argentina’s trajectory—and give hope to economic reformers everywhere.

"Syria in 2025 is far happier and more peaceful than it was in 2024. Fear is no longer universal. Life is not easy, but it is more or less normal for most people."

Syria’s improvement, by contrast, has been political. Little more than a year ago it was ruled by Bashar al-Assad, an odious dictator backed by Iran and Russia. His jails were stuffed with political prisoners, and dissent was punished with torture or death. Thirteen years of civil war had claimed more than half a million lives. Mr Assad’s forces had used chemical weapons and barrel bombs indiscriminately on civilians. More than 6m people had fled from the country.