Ranked 103rd by the Prosperity Index, Morocco has fallen in the ranking conducted by the Legatum Institute. Morocco is ranked 103rd among 149 countries studied by the 2018 Prosperity Index, an annual ranking developed by the Legatum Institute. Released on Wednesday, 28th of November, the report indicates that the Kingdom has fallen by one position moving from 102rd to 103rd when compared to last year. Positioned behind Tunisia and ahead of Tanzania, Morocco «has moved down the ranking table by 8 places», since the Prosperity Index began in 2006, says the British institute. The ranking is based on 9 factors, including economic equality, business environment, education, health, security and freedom and personal freedom. According to the authors of the report, Morocco «performs best on safety and security (45th) and natural environment (55th)». On the other hand, the North African Kingdom «scores the lowest on the social capital pillar (134th)», pointed out the same source. Morocco in the Arab World «The biggest positive change, compared to last year, came in Social Capital increasing by 10 places, whereas they dropped 15 places on Health (91st)», wrote the same source. Meanwhile, Morocco ranks 96th, 84th, 120th, 117th in the economic quality, business environment, governance, and education pillars respectively. Compared to other countries in the world, the Kingdom is ranked second in the Maghreb region, behind Tunisia 102nd, and ahead of Algeria 116th, Libya 133rd and Mauritania 142nd. It is positioned in the 9th place in the Arab World, behind the United Arab Emirates, the most prosperous Arab country in the world (39th), according to Legatum. The list includes other Arab countries, namely Qatar (46th), Bahrain (51st), Kuwait (66th) and the Sultanate of Oman (69th). Overall, the «Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is the 6th ranked region and is one of only two regions to experience a decline in overall prosperity this year, with 11 of 18 countries' prosperity scores dropping since 2017», wrote Legatum on its website. According to the ranking «the five North African countries are all in the bottom 50 for global prosperity, and all but Morocco have decreased in Prosperity over the past decade». In Africa, Morocco ranks 8th topped by Mauritius 29th, Namibia 70th, Botswana 83rd, Ghana 84th, Rwanda 95th and Kenya 97th.
