Epress.am News from Armenia
Despite its rapid economic growth, reports the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review, Turkey ranked only 80th among 110 countries in the annual “Legatum Prosperity Index,” prepared by the Legatum Institute.
The index ranks countries according to eight criteria, including economy, entrepreneurship, governance, education, health, individual freedom and social capital.
The ranking, released Thursday, showed Turkey, a Group of 20 member nation, behind countries such as Algeria, El Salvador, Ecuador, Uzbekistan and Venezuela. It managed to surpass countries such as Guatemala, Bolivia, Syria, Lebanon and Honduras.
Among the sub-indices, Turkey ranked worst in “social capital,” standing at number 108. Other alarming rankings were personal freedom (95th), safety and security (83) and education (82).
The top three countries on the Legatum list were Norway, Denmark and Finland. They were followed by Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Canada, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the United States.
At the bottom of the list were Zimbabwe, Pakistan and the Central African Republic. However, Zimbabwe surpassed Turkey in “social capital.”
Legatum defines this sub-index as “social networks and the cohesion that a society experiences when people trust one another [that] have a direct effect on the prosperity of a country.”
It’s important to note neither Armenia nor its neighboring countries Azerbaijan and Georgia were included in the list of countries surveyed in the 2010 report.
The Legatum Institute is a privately funded think tank founded in 2007 and located in Mayfair, London. It is funded by the Legatum Group.