KUWAIT CITY, Feb 17: Kuwait’s ranking in the 2022 Index of Economic Freedom issued by the International Heritage Foundation has fallen by 27 ranks to reach the 101st position in the world. In 2021, Kuwait was ranked 74th. It also ranked seventh in the Arab world after the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and Morocco, reports Al-Rai daily. Kuwait scored 58.3 points out of 100 points in the general index. Its overall score is higher than the regional average, but lower than the global average.

The index classified the Kuwaiti economy as “mostly unfree”. The index is based on four main factors in its classification of 177 countries.

They are:

1. The rule of law, which covers property rights, judicial effectiveness and government integrity,

2. The open market, which means freedom of investment, trade and financial freedom

3. The efficiency of the regulatory environment, which means freedom of doing business, monetary freedom and freedom of work,

4. The size of the government, which means tax burden, government spending and financial soundness.

Kuwait’s rating declined in most of these sub-indicators, with the exception of tax burden, financial soundness, freedom of investment and financial freedom, which remained the same compared to the previous year’s rating.