Economic Freedom of the Arab World: 2007 Annual Report

Economic freedom measures the extent to which individuals, families, businesses, and other organizations are free to make economic decisions without of government interference.

Economic Freedom of the Arab World includes 16 nations: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, the UAE, and Yemen. Nations are ranked in five areas: size of government; legal structure and security of property rights; access to sound money; freedom to trade internationally, and the regulation of credit, labour, and business.

Four of the nations included in the report-Bahrain, Libya, Mauritania and Qatar-lack data for at least one of the above areas and are not included in the overall rankings, though rankings are provided in areas for which data are available.

The Fraser Institute, along with regional partner, the Oman-based International Research Foundation, produces the Economic Freedom of the Arab World, a new initiative to measure economic freedom and how free enterprise throughout the Arab world is lifting individuals and families out of poverty.