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Country Rankings Guide
This is a list of country rankings based on indicators that try to measure different characteristics of countries around the world. Most of these rankings are ongoing and recurring. Be careful when using these indexes because they often measure qualities that are difficult to quantify. Moreover, methodologies often change year to year; therefore, multiyear comparisons are often invalid. For these reasons, it is important to know the methodologies used to derive these cross country comparisons. Most of the indexes included provide their methodology. See also Country Reports and Statistical Information Guide.
Civil Liberties
- Freedom in the World (1972- ) from Freedom House
Assessment of political rights and civil liberties on 193 countries and 15 disputed territories. Starting with 2006 also has scores for: electoral process; political pluralism and participation; functioning of government; freedom of expression and belief; associational and organizational rights; rule of law; personal autonomy and individual rights.
- International Privacy Ranking (2006 and 2007) from Privacy International
An annual ranking of how much privacy nations' populations have from both corporative and government surveillance.
- Political Terror Scale (1976- )
Measures levels of political violence and terror that a country experiences in a particular year based on a 5-level “terror scale” originally developed by Freedom House. The data used in compiling this index comes from the yearly country reports of Amnesty International and the U.S. State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.
- Refugee Rights Report Card (2005-2007, 2008, 2009) from U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants
Grades for 2005 to 2007 can be found in the "Country Updates" section of the World Refugee Survey. The report card grades host countries based on 4 criteria:
- Refoulement/Physical protection
- Detention/Access to courts
- Freedom of movement and residence
- Right to earn a livelihood.
Corruption
Development
- Basic Capabilities Index (2008) from Social Watch
The BCI is an attempt to measure poverty without using income statistics. It is a simple average of three indicators: percentage of children who reach fifth grade; survival until the fifth year of age (based on mortality among children under five); and percentage of deliveries attended by skilled health personnel.
- Commitment to Development Index (2003- ) from Center for Global Development
Rates 21 rich countries on how much they help poor countries build prosperity, good government and security.
- Digital Opportunity Index (DOI) (2003 p.16, 2004/2005, 2005/2006) from International Telecommunication Union
The DOI is a measure of the digital divide and compare Information and Communication Technology (ICT) performance within and across countries. It is based on 11 ICT indicators, grouped in 3 clusters: opportunity, infrastructure and utilization. The 2003 DOI covers 40 countries; subsequent DOI covers over 180 economies.
- E-readiness Rankings (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009) from the Economist Inteliigence Unit and IBM Institute for Business Value
Measures the quality of a country’s ICT infrastructure and the ability of its
consumers, businesses and governments to use ICT to their benefit. Consists of over 100 quantitative and qualitative criteria
and are organised into six primary categories.
- Global Hunger Index (2006- ) from International Food Policy Research Institute
The Global Hunger Index is a measure of hunger and malnutrition.and ranks countries based on three indicators: proportion of people who are calorie deficient, child malnutrition prevalence, and child mortality rate. Countries are ranked on a 100-point scale, with 0 being the best score (no hunger) and 100 being the worst. Covers developing countries and countries in transition. The GHI ranking can be found in each of the Global Hunger Index reports.
- Human Development Index (HDI) (older HDI figures available from each Human Development Reports 1990- ) from United Nations Development Programme
The HDI is a summary composite index that measures a country's average achievements in three basic aspects of human development:
- Health - measured by life expectancy at birth;
- Knowledge - measured by a combination of the adult literacy rate and the combined primary, secondary, and tertiary gross enrolment ratio;
- Standard of living - measured by GDP per capita (PPP US$).
The Human Development Report Offices strongly advises against constructing HDI trend analysis based on the HDI published in different editions of the Human Development Report. Due to revisions to the data series for some or all of the components of the HDI, changes in the HDI methodology, or variations in the country coverage, the HDI values and rankings presented in the 1990 through 2007/2008 editions of the Human Development Report are not directly comparable. For the most up-to-date HDI trend data based on consistent country coverage, methodology and data, use the table for years 1975,1980,1985,1990,1995,2000,2005.
- Human Poverty Index (1997- ) from United Nations Development Programme
The HPI is a composite of three indicators that measure three basic dimensions of deprivation: a short life (percentage of people with life expectancy below ages 40 and 60 ); lack of basic education (percentage of adults who are illiterate), and lack of access to public and private resources. The rankings are available in each of the Human Development Reports starting from the 1997 edition. (Call number=Ref HD72 .H85 in Ready Reference) There are two Human Poverty Indexes:
- The HPI-1 for developing countries.
- The HPI-2 for developed countries. Includes social exclusion in addition to the three dimensions in HPI-1.
- Humanitarian Response Index (2007, 2008) from DARA
The HRI assesses and ranks wealthy countries against their commitment to improve the quality and effectivess of their humanitarian assistance. It uses over 50 indicators, organised into five Pillars, which capture the essence of the Principles of Good Humanitarian Donorship, which -- . Responding to humanitarian needs; Supporting local capacity and recovery; Working with humanitarian partners; Promoting standards and enhancing implementation; Learning and accountability.
- ICT Opportunity Index (2001-2005 values & 2005 ranking p.127-128) from International Telecommunication Union
The ICT-OI uses ten indicators that help measure Information and Communication Technology networks, population education and skills, uptake and intensity of the use of ICT. Is the result of the merger of the ITU's Digital Access Index (DAI) and Orbicom's Digital Divide Index. The ICT-OI and the Digital Opportunity Index illustrate different aspects of the digital divide.
- Legatum Prosperity Index (2007, 2008) from Legatum Institute
The Prosperity Index ranks 50 (2007) and 104 (2008) nations by how well they are doing the kinds of things necessary to raise GDP (i.e., promoting economic competitiveness) and to raise average subjective wellbeing or life satisfaction (i.e., promoting comparative liveability). It is an index of the drivers of prosperity rather than an index of prosperity outcomes.
- Networked Readiness Index (2002- ) from World Economic Forum and INSEAD
Aims at measuring economies’ capacity to fully leverage ICT for increased competitiveness and development. It is based on a mixture of hard data and survey data from the annual Executive Opinion Survey.
Economic
- Ease of Doing Business Ranking (2004- ) from The World Bank
Measures the regulatory environment of 181 countries that is conducive to the operation of business using the indicators:
- Starting a business
- Dealing with construction permits
- Employing workers
- Registering property
- Getting credit
- Protecting investors
- Paying taxes
- Trading across borders
- Enforcing contracts
- Closing a business
- Economic Freedom of North America (1981- ) from The Fraser Institute
Measures the differences in economic freedom among U.S. states and Canadian provinces.
- Economic Freedom of the Arab World (2002- ) from The Fraser Institue
- Economic Freedom of the World (every 5 years starting from 1970; annually starting from 2000) from The Fraser Institute
Measures the degree to which the policies and institutions of countries are supportive of economic freedom. The cornerstones of economic freedom are personal choice, voluntary exchange, freedom to compete, and security of privately owned property. Thirty-eight data points are used to construct a summary index and to measure the degree of economic freedom in five areas: size of government; legal structure and security of property rights; access to sound money; freedom to trade internationally; and regulation of credit, labour and business.
- Economist Intelligence Unit's Quality of Life Index (2005 only)
Assigns a life satisfaction score to 111 countries using a quality-of-life factors: material wellbeing; health; political stability and security; family life; community life; climate and geography; job security; political freedom; and gender equality.
- Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index (2004- ) from A.T. Kearney
Is a regular survey of global executives conducted by A.T. Kearney.
- Global Competitive Index (2001- ) from World Economic Forum
The rankings are calculated from both publicly available data and the Executive Opinion Survey, an annual survey of business leaders. The methodology of this index has changed considerably over the years. The most recent index is based on 12 pillars of competitiveness, each of which is also ranked:
- Institutions
- Infrastructure
- Macroeconomic Stability
- Health and Primary Education
- Higher Education and Training
- Goods Market Efficiency
- Labour Market Efficiency
- Financial Market Sophistication
- Technological Readiness
- Market Size
- Business Sophistication
- Innovation.
- Global Innovation Index from the Economist Intelligence Unit
Measures innovation performance in 82 countries. Rankings available from original 2007 report and 2009 update for 2002-2006, 2004-2008 and forecast for 2009-2113. Is based on the number of patents granted to people from different countries by patent offices in the U.S., European Union and Japan, as well as factors that help and hinder the ability to innovate, such as the amount of research and development undertaken, the education and technical skills of the country's workforce, and its IT and communications infrastructure.
- Global Retail Development Index (2004- ) from A.T. Kearney
Ranks the retail expansion attractiveness of emerging countries based on a set of 25 variables including economic and political risk, retail market attractiveness, retail saturation levels, and the difference between gross domestic product growth and retail growth.
- Global Service Location Index (2004- ) from A.T. Kearney
Ranks 50 countries against 43 measurements across three major categories: financial attractiveness, people and skills availability, and business environment.
- Globalization Index (2001- ) from Foreign Policy Magazine and A.T. Kearney
Examines the underlying international trends that reveal whether the world's leading nations are becoming more or less globally connected.
Also available from the database, Academic Search Premier (AU Community Only).
- Click on "Search within this publication."
- Search for: globalization index.
- Index of Economic Freedom (1995- ) from The Heritage Foundation
Is a simple average of 10 individual freedoms, each of which is vital to the development of personal and national prosperity: business freedom; trade freedom; fiscal freedom; government size; monetary freedom; investment freedom; financial freedom; property rights; freedom from corruption; and labor freedom .
Environment
Gender
- Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) (1995- ) from United Nations Development Programme
A composite index measuring gender inequality in three basic dimensions of empowerment: economic participation and decision-making; political participation and decision-making; and power over economic resources. The rankings are available in each of the Human Development Reports starting from the 1995 edition. (Call number=Ref HD72 .H85 in Ready Reference)
- Gender Equity Index (2008) from Social Watch
Measures the gap between women and men in 157 countries based on the dimensions of: education, economic activity, and empowerment. The 2008 results are compared to those from 5 years previous in order to provide a direction in progress.
- Gender-related Development Index (GDI) (1995- ) from United Nations Development Programme
A composite index that measures human development in the same dimensions as the Human Development Indicators while adjusting for gender inequality in those basic dimensions. Its coverage is limited to 136 countries and areas for which the HDI rank was recalculated. The GDI is not a measure of gender inequality. It is the HDI adjusted for gender disparities in its basic components. The rankings are available in each of the Human Development Reports starting from the 1995 edition. (Call number=Ref HD72 .H85 in Ready Reference)
- Women in National Parliaments (1997- ) from Inter-Parliamentary Union
Ranking of countries according to percentage of women in lower or single House of Parliament.
- Women's Rights in the Middle East and North Africa: Citizenship and Justice (2005, 2009 results available in fall 2009) from Freedom House
Survey of the state of women's rights in Arab MENA countries. Ratings are given for five categories:
- Non-Discrimination and Access to Justice
- Autonomy, Security, and Freedom of the Person
- Economic Rights and Equal Opportunity
- Political Rights and Civic Voice
- Social and Cultural Right.
Governance and Political
- Asia Soft Power Survey (2008) from The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and East Asia Institute (South Korea)
A ranking of United States, Japan, China and South Korea's soft power in Asia. Soft power is defined as the ability to wield influence by indirect, nonmilitary means, whether by persuasion or attraction. The results are derived from surveys taken in the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Vietnam. The "Soft Power Index" is an average of the indexes to the five components of soft power: economic, cultural, human capital, diplomatic, and political.
- Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2003, 2006, 2008) from Bertelsmann Stiftung
Is the composite of two indices that compare the status of democracy and market economy (Status Index), and the quality of political management (Management Index) in more than 100 transition and developing countries
from 1998 to 2007. Updated every two years.
Print copies of the Bertelsmann Transformation Index are on order.
- Democracy Index (2006, 2008) from the Economist Intelligence Unit
Covers 165 independent states and two territories. Is based on the ratings for 60 indicators grouped in five categories: electoral process and pluralism; civil liberties; the functioning of government; political participation; and political culture. Each category has a rating on a 0 to 10 scale, and the overall index of democracy is the simple average of the five category indexes. Countries are placed within one of four types of regimes: full democracies; flawed democracies; hybrid regimes; and authoritarian regimes.
- Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index (2006, 2008)
Ranks 165 countries and 2 territories based on five categories: electoral process and pluralism; civil liberties; the functioning of government; political participation; and political culture.
- Electoral Democracy Index (EDI) for Latin America (1960, 1977, 1985, 1990-2002)
The EDI was prepared for the UNDP report, Democracy in Latin America: Towards a Citizens' Democracy (p. 78). It is a compound measurement that combines four variables: the right to vote, fair elections, free elections, and elections as a means of access to public office. The EDI value ranges between zero and one, where zero indicates the complete absence of electoral democracy and one the maximum.
- Failed States Index (2005- ) from The Fund for Peace and Foreign Policy Magazine.
Assess the stability and political risk of 177 countries by focusing on 12 social, economic and political indicators. Also available from the database, Academic Search Premier (AU Community Only).
- Click on "Search within this publication."
- Search for: failed states index.
- Global Peace Index (2007- ) from Vision of Humanity
Ranks the countries of the world by their peacefulness using 24 indicators.
The Vision of Humanity warns against year-on-year comparisons due to the expansion of the GPI from 121 countries to 140. In its methodology it states: "The normalisation of a number of our series for our index also makes direct year-on-year comparisons difficult as the normalised series essentially measure countries in direct reference to their respective differences for that given time period (maximums and minimums will differ between the 2007 GPI measurements and 2008). Nevertheless, we have developed a special comparative version of the Global Peace Index in 2008 for the original 121 countries. The comparison excludes new 2008 countries."
- Global PRS Risk Index (2001- ) from Political Risk Services Group
Rankings of 100 countries using PRS' risk ratings for turmoil, financial transfer, direct investment, and export markets. Available from the print copy of the PRS' Country Forecasts. (Call number=Ref HC 10 .C66)
- Peace and Conflict Instability Ledger (2007) from Center for International Development and Conflict Management (CIDCM)
A ranking of the status and progress of 160 countries based on their forecasted risk of future instability. The 2008 edition uses 2004 data to produce a three-year forecast indicating the risk of instability in 2007. The ranking is only available from the print report, Peace and Conflict 2008. Earlier editions of the Ledger use different indicators. (Call number=Ref JZ6385 .P43).
- Open Budget Index (2006 p. 30 of report, 2008)
Assigns a score to each country based on the information the government makes available to the public throughout the budget process. Based on a biennial survey of people in academic institutions and civil society organizations.
- State Fragility Index (from Polity IV) (1995, 2001, 2007) from Center for International Development and Conflict Management (CIDCM)
Covers 162 independent countries and is derived by combining scores measuring two qualities of state performance: effectiveness and legitimacy on the dimensions of security, governance, economics, and social development.
- Sustainable Governance Indicators 2009 from Bertelsmann Stiftung
Measures the need for political, economic and social reform in the member countries of the OECD (Stability Index), and examines to what extent the countries' governments are able to tackle pressing problems and implement effective solutions (Management Index). Is based on the Bertelsmann Transformation Index. Will be updated every 2 years.
A print copy of the complete publication, which provides the methodology, is on order.
- Worldwide Governance Indicators (1996- ) from The World Bank
Indicators of six dimensions of governance for 213 countries:
- Voice and Accountability
- Political Stability and Absence of Violence
- Government Effectiveness
- Regulatory Quality
- Rule of Law
- Control of Corruption
Press Freedom
- Freedom of the Press (1980- ) from Freedom House
Assesses the degree of print, broadcast, and Internet freedom in every country in the world. Ratings are based on three broad categories: the legal environment in which media operate, political influences on reporting and access to information, and economic pressures on content and the dissemination of news. From 1980-93, the countries are categorized as "Free," "Partly Free," or "Not Free." From 1994 onwards, both category designations and numerical rating from 0 (the most free) to 100 (the least free) are given.
- Journalists in Jail (2000- ) from Committee to Protect Journalists
Journalists Killed (1992- )
Statistics on the number of journalists imprisoned or killed. This can be used as a barometer on the amount of press freedom in the country. Also has information on missing journalists.
- Media Sustainability Index (2001- ) from IREX
Analysis of the condition of independent media in 38 countries in Europe, Eurasia, the Middle East and North Africa.
- Worldwide Press Freedom Index (2002- ) from Reporters Without Borders
Reflects the degree of freedom journalists and news organisations enjoy in 168 countries, and the efforts made by the state to respect and ensure respect for this freedom.
Social
- Prison Brief (latest only) from King's College London
Lists of countries with the following prison statistics from highest and lowest:
- prison population total,
- prison population rate,
- percentage of pre-trial detainees / remand prisoners within the prison population,
- percentage of female prisoners within the prison population,
- percentage of foreign prisoners within the prison population,
- occupancy rate.
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