Nepal ranks 114 in 2020 Prosperity Index

Of the total 167 countries, Nepal ranks 114th – with 50.4 score – in the overall Prosperity Index rankings of this year.

Since 2010, Nepal has moved up the rankings table by 15 places, and one spot up compared to last year's ranking, according to the Global Prosperity Index 2020 published by London-based Legatum Institute. “Nepal performs most strongly in Personal Freedom and Safety & Security but is weakest in Natural Environment.”

Though, the biggest improvement compared to a decade ago came in Safety and Security has improved Nepal's ranking by one spot, some of the pillars including Natural Environment (with 45.97 score and at 145th position), market access and infrastructure (with 35.54 score and at 134th position) and living condition (51.08 score and at 128th position) are the poor performers.

The indicators used in the Index are organised into 12 pillars, which are grouped into three domains essential to prosperity including Inclusive Societies – Safety and Security, Personal Freedom, Governance, and Social Capital – Open Economies which has Investment Environment, Enterprise Conditions, Market Access and Infrastructure, and Economic Quality; and finally Empowered People that includes Living Conditions, Health, Education, and Natural Environment. “Using the Prosperity Index framework, nations around the world can assess their strengths and weaknesses in order to determine the economic and strategic choices that need to be made to drive greater levels of prosperity,” a press note from the London-based Legatum Institute reads. 

The Legatum Prosperity Index analyses the performance of 167 nations across 66 policy-focused elements, measured by almost 300 country-level indicators, it reads, adding that the Index enables to construct a thoroughly comprehensive picture of prosperity, across its institutional, economic, and social dimensions. “It is the ambition that leaders around the world will use the Index to help set their agendas for growth and development, and that it will enable others to hold them to account.”

Last year, Nepal ranked 115 and was the 22nd poorest out of the 29 countries in Asia-Pacific ranking, according to the Legatum Institute’s 2019 Prosperity Index.