| Pakistan fourth from bottom on wellbeing ranking |
KARACHI An index that measures prosperity as a function of both income and wellbeing for 110 countries around the world has placed the country fourth from the bottom, below Sudan and Yemen.
At 107, Pakistan is ahead of only Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and the Central African Republic. In the Asia-Pacific region, it is ranked last out of 22 nations.
London-based research organisation Legatum Institute on Tuesday released the 2011 Legatum Prosperity Index, in which countries are ranked in eight areas before being given an overall prosperity rank.
Nordic countries dominate the overall rankings, with Norway and Denmark bagging the top two spots and Sweden and Finland also appearing in the top 10. Others in that group include Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, the Netherlands and, lastly, the United States.
The country is listed at 86 for entrepreneurship and opportunity, 96 for both economy and health, 98 for governance, 100 for social capital, 104 for personal freedom, 105 for education and 109 for safety and security. In this last category it is preceded by Colombia and followed only by Sudan.
The numbers for social capital and personal freedom may provide some cause for scepticism. As the report itself admits, the country has strong social networks, and at times these have functioned as private social welfare nets.
Some of the reasons listed for the country’s poor performance include an unstable economy with uncertain growth prospects, limited access to technology, income inequality, lack of competition and accountability in the political system, limited spending on public health, low school enrolment rates and poor quality of education, political violence, demographic pressures.
Agencies
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