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Bahrain tops GCC rankings in 2021 Economic Freedom index

MANAMA, September 21, 2021

Bahrain has topped the GCC rankings in the latest annual Economic Freedom of the World index compiled by the Fraser Institute. 
 
As per the list prepared on the basis of 2019 data, the kingdom ranks higher taking the 65th place ahead of the UAE (67th), Qatar (80th), Saudi Arabia (91st), Kuwait (98) and Oman (102nd).
 
Globally, Hong Kong and Singapore, as usual, occupy the top two positions in the Economic Freedom of the World: 2021 index. The next highest scoring nations are New Zealand, Switzerland, Georgia, the US, Ireland, Lithuania, Australia, and Denmark.
 
The report is the world's premier measurement of economic freedom, ranking countries based on five areas - size of government, legal structure and property rights, access to sound money, freedom to trade internationally, regulation of credit, labour and business.
 
The EFW index is designed to measure the degree to which the institutions and policies of countries are consistent with economic freedom.
 
Economic freedom is based on the concept of self-ownership whose cornerstones are personal choice, voluntary exchange, open markets, and clearly defined and enforced property rights
 
Because of this selfownership, individuals have a right to choose - to decide how to use their time and talents to shape their lives. 
 
On the other hand, they do not have a right to the time, talents, and resources of others. Thus, they have no right to take things from others or demand that others provide things for them. 
 
Regionwise too, Bahrain has got top rankings as the third hightest in the wider Middle East and Africa after Israel (43) and Jordan (50) in the report which analyses the policies and institutions of 165 countries to guage the ability of individuals to make their own economic decisions. 
 
As per the Economic Freedom of World index by Fraser, the kingdom ranked 85th in terms of size of government, 107th in legal system and property rights; 48th in freedom to trade internationally and 22nd in labour market regulations.
 
The rankings of other major countries include Japan (18th), Germany (22nd), Italy (47th), France (53rd), Mexico (75th), Russia (100th), India (108th), Brazil (109th) and China (116th).
 
People living in countries with high levels of economic freedom enjoy greater prosperity, more political and civil liberties, and longer lives.-TradeArabia News Service

 




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