DUBAI: The UAE has ranked first in the Middle East and 17th globally in terms of economic prosperity and government productivity, according to World Economic Forum’s latest Global Competitiveness Index.
The report, which comes out yearly, assesses a country’s government productivity in a specific set of institutions, ranging from infrastructure and innovation to education and markets, based on empirical and theoretical research.
“The UAE is in first place in the quality of government decisions, the government’s ability to adapt to changes, the effectiveness of government spending, and the partnership between the public and private sectors, as well as in administrative practices, the digital transformation of companies, and adopting technology,” UAE Vice President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid said after reading the report, according to UAE state news agency WAM.
“The UAE’s success is also an Arab success and not just Emirati, and our knowledge will remain open to our all Arab brothers,” he added.
Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain came next in the MENA region while globally ranking 25, 30 and 44 respectively.
Politically-unstable Lebanon and war-torn Yemen were at the bottom of the list of Mideast countries, with Yemen also performing worst globally, ranking 137 — although neither Iraq or Syria were featured.
UAE took top spots in sectors dealing with ethics and corruption and public trust in politicians, while Lebanon and Yemen were lowest.
In terms of efficient use of talent in the labor market, six of the bottom ten countries were Arab countries: Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Lebanon and Yemen.
Switzerland, the US and Singapore took the top three spots in the 137-country list.
| Country | Middle East Rank | Global Rank |
| UAE | 1 | 17 |
| Qatar | 2 | 25 |
| Saudi Arabia | 3 | 30 |
| Bahrain | 4 | 44 |
| Kuwait | 5 | 52 |
| Oman | 6 | 62 |
| Jordan | 7 | 65 |
| Morocco | 8 | 71 |
| Algeria | 9 | 86 |
| Tunisia | 10 | 95 |
| Egypt | 11 | 100 |
| Lebanon | 12 | 105 |
| Yemen | 13 | 137 |
