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Bahrain is ranked No. 1 among Arab nations for economic freedom, according to the Economic Freedom of the Arab World: 2010 Annual Report.
Kuwait is ranked second and Lebanon third, according to the report co-published by the Fraser Institute, Canada's leading public policy think-tank, along with the International Research Foundation (IRF) of Oman, and the Cairo office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF).
This year, top-ranked Bahrain achieved an overall score of 8.0 out of 10. Second-place Kuwait scored 7.8 and Lebanon placed third with a score of 7.6. Oman placed fourth with a score of 7.5.
"These top-ranked nations have maintained high levels of economic freedom and also lead the region in political openness, though more needs to be done," said Fred McMahon, Fraser Institute vice-president international policy research and co-author of the report.
The report was released at the start of the annual Economic Freedom of the Arab World meeting in Cairo. The meeting attracted delegates from nations throughout the Middle East.
"The link between economic freedom and prosperity is clear: jurisdictions with high levels of economic freedom see greater economic growth. When denied a reasonable level of economic freedom, people are left poorer than they need be, and this is happening in some parts of the Arab world," said Salem Al Ismaily, the report's lead author, chairman of IRF, and a member of the Fraser Institute's board of directors.
"Promoting economic freedom is a priority in our education programmes in Egypt and throughout the region. The data within the annual reports are very helpful as they show in an empirical manner that increasing economic freedom creates wealth which may lead to economic development," added Ronald Meinardus, FNF regional director in the Middle East and Northern Africa.
The Economic Freedom of the Arab World: 2010 Annual Report compares and ranks Arab nations in five areas of economic freedom: size of government, including expenditures, taxes, and enterprises; commercial and economic law and security of property rights; access to sound money; freedom to trade internationally; and the regulation of credit, labour, and business. The complete report may be downloaded as a PDF, free of charge, at www.freetheworld.com.
Economic freedom is based on the cornerstones of personal choice, voluntary exchange, freedom to compete, and security of private property. Research shows that individuals living in countries with high levels of economic freedom enjoy higher levels of prosperity, greater individual freedoms, and longer life spans.
Algeria, Syria, Mauritania, and Tunisia were again found to have the lowest levels of economic freedom among Arab nations. While the top scorers all rank very closely together, there are significant gaps among the bottom four, with Algeria at 5.5, down from 5.7 last year; Syria at 5.7, down slightly from 5.8; and Tunisia and Mauritania tied at 6.3, down from 6.4.
