Ghana’s rankings in 2013
The year 2013 is over. Ghana, during that year, got numerous rankings globally by international institutions of great repute.
The international rankings on Ghana covered the various key sectors that have an impact on human life and development.
Some sectors these rankings covered were the economy, governance, education, ICT, media, development and others.
The following are some rankings Ghana got during the year 2013
1. Ghana loses 11 spots in 2013 WEF competitiveness index
Ghana fell drastically in rank on the 2013 edition of the Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) index published September 4, 2013 by the World Economic Forum (WEF) due to the weak nature of the country’s macroeconomic indicators.
The country lost 11 spots to place 114th in the latest index from 103rd it ranked in the 2012 edition.
Ghana had a score of 3.69. The WEF attributed Ghana’s decline to the deterioration of the country’s macroeconomic indicators.
“Ghana declines this year to 114th in large as a result of a deterioration in its macroeconomic indicators (reversing last year’s trend),” said the Davos-based organization.
It was the stability of the macroeconomic indicators that lifted Ghana up 11 places in the 2012 edition of the index.
The country was not part of the top ten most competitive countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The 2013 report named in order of highest rankings in the region Mauritius, South Africa, Rwanda, Botswana, Seychelles, Namibia, Zambia, Kenya, Gabon and Senegal.
2. Ghana 117th position in 2013 WEF Tourism Index
Ghana slumped nine places to 117th in the 2013 World Economic Forum (WEF) Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index.
The index which was published March 7, 2013, showed Ghana made an overall score of 3.4 out of 7 in the fifth edition of the biennial Index which ranked 140 countries worldwide.
Ghana placed 108th and 110th in the 2011 and 2009 editions of the Index respectively all with the same score of 3.4 out of 7.
On the regional ranking, Ghana placed 14th in sub-Saharan Africa behind nations such as the Gambia, Mauritius, South Africa, Cape Verde, and Tanzania among others. Seychelles which topped the region with a score of 4.5, placed 38th worldwide.
3. Ghana places 24th on FIFA rankings to end 2013
Ghana ended a remarkable year of World Cup qualification to stay 24th in the last FIFA world ranking released in December 2013.
The Black Stars finished the year as Africa’s second best side behind Ivory Coast with an accumulated point build-up of 849 as the December edition of the rankings did not bring about any significant changes.
4. Ghana maintains 135th position in 2013 UNDP Human Development Report
Ghana maintained its ranking in the 2013 Human Development Index (HDI) released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) March 14, 2013.
Ghana ranked 135th out 186 countries the report captured, and the country’s rate of life expectancy at birth rose to 64.6 years of the entire population. In the last edition of the Index in 2011, Ghana’s life expectancy was 64.2 years.
Among the medium development countries in the Index, Ghana’s HDI was valued at 0.558 compared to the globally ranked number one, Norway’s 0.955.
The UNDP said between 1980 and 2012, Ghana’s HDI rose by 0.9% annually from 0.391 to 0.558.
“The HDI of sub-Saharan Africa as a region increased from 0.366 in 1980 to 0.475 today, placing Ghana above the regional average,” the UN agency added.
5. Ghana rises to 95th in 2013 WEF digital rankings
Ghana moves up two places in the 2013 digital rankings of the World Economic Forum (WEF) published today April 10, 2013, with an improved score of 3.51 out ten.
The 2013 Networked Readiness Index was part of this year’s edition of the Global Information Report of the WEF.
Ghana was ranked 95th in the 2013 edition, up from 97th in the 2012 Index where it had a score of 3.4.
The Networked Readiness Index, calculated by the WEF and INSEAD, ranked 144 economies based on their capacity to exploit the opportunities offered by the digital age. The ranking capacity is determined by the quality of the regulatory, business and innovation environments, the degree of preparedness, the actual usage of ICTs, as well as the societal and economic impacts of ICTs.
Ghana placed 64th with 3.95 score in the ICT environment and 101 with 3.89 score in ICT readiness.
In terms of ICT usage, the country scored 3.12 at 102nd while ICT impact on the country was ranked 100th with a score of 3.08.
On the African continent, eight countries were ahead of Ghana, they are Mauritius (55th with a score of 4.12), South Africa (at 70th with a score of 3.87), Seychelles (79th with a score of 3.80) and Egypt (80th with a score of 3.78).
The others are Cape Verde (81st with a score of 3.78), Rwanda (88th with a score of 3.68), Morocco (at 89th with a score of 3.64) and Kenya (92nd with a score of 3.54).
6. Ghana ranks 55th on world freedom index
Ghana was ranked 55th on the world freedom index in a report released January 8, 2013 by Canada’s leading public policy think-tank Fraser Institute and Germany’s Liberales Institut.
The index is contained in a new book, Towards a Worldwide Index of Human Freedom, which examines the characteristics of “freedom” and how it can best be measured and compared between different nations.
They used two sub indexes in ranking countries – Personal freedom and Economic freedom.
Ghana had an overall score of 7.23 out of ten. For Personal freedom and Economic freedom, Ghana scored 7.3 and 7.17 points respectively.
7. Ghana falls again, ranks 94th in 2013 global innovation index
Ghana once again fell on the global innovation index. The country’s innovation status ranking slumped two places down to 94th in the 2013 edition of the index released by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) July 2013.
The country placed 92nd and 70th in the 2012 and 2011 editions respectively.
According to the 2013 index which conducted innovation studies among 142 countries globally, Ghana made a score of 30.6 out of 100.
In sub-Sahara Africa, Ghana moved up from 6th in 2012 to 5th this year.
Ghana’s innovation output had a score of 27.3 ranking 95th while input was ranked 99th with a score of 33.9.
8. Ghana ranks third in Africa on 2013 World Press Freedom Index
Ghana stood at the third position in Africa in the 2013 global Press Freedom Index released today January 30, 2013 despite gains in the ranking.
According to the Index, by the Reporters Without Borders, Ghana placed 30th globally and third in Africa behind Namibia and Cape Verde.
Ghana placed 41st in the 2012 edition of the Index.
Mali, which placed 25th in the 2012 Index, registered the biggest fall in the 2013 Index as a result of the turmoil in that country in 2012. Mali ranks 99th in the 2013 Index.
9. Ghana ranks 67th in 2013 global food security index
Ghana ranked 67th among 107 countries worldwide in the 2013 edition of the Global Food Security Index published July 2013 by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and US company DuPont.
With a score of 45.4, Ghana came third on the rankings among 28 countries in the sub-Saharan Africa region.
South Africa and Botswana were the two nations ahead of Ghana.
The Global Food Security Index considered core issues of affordability, availability, and quality across all the 107 countries.
The index, which is a dynamic quantitative and qualitative scoring model, was compiled from 27 unique indicators that measured the drivers of food security across both developing and developed countries.
The Index highlighted low contribution of the food sector to gross domestic product per capita, low public expenditure on agricultural R&D and less quality of protein in food as some of the challenges facing the country.
10. Ghana’s peace in slippage, ranks 58th in 2013 Peace Index
Ghana has slipped to the 58th position in the 2013 Global Peace Index (GPI) published June 11, 2013.The country placed 50th and 42nd in the 2012 and 2011 editions of the Index.
Ghana had a score of 1.899, according to the Index produced by the Australian-based Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP).
Ghana’s peace position also dropped in sub-Saharan Africa. The country placed 7th compared to 2012 where it ranked 5th.
Mauritius topped sub-Saharan Africa followed by Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Lesotho and Tanzania.
Ghana placed 50th and 42nd in the 2012 and 2011 editions of the Index respectively.
11. Ghana tops sub-Sahara Africa in Resource Governance Index
Ghana ranks number one in sub-Sahara Africa when it comes to natural resource governance, a new Index released by the Revenue Watch Institute showed.
The governance Index released May 15, 2013 says though Ghana has taken important steps to improve mining governance and limit corruption, government has failed to give citizens the information they need to make sure they are getting a good deal from mining companies.
The Revenue Watch Institute’s Resource Governance Index measured the quality of governance in the oil, gas and mining sector of 58 countries worldwide.
Each country on the Index, from top-ranked Norway to last-placed Myanmar, is judged on four criteria: legal framework, transparency levels, checks and balances and broader governance context.
Ghana ranks 15th out of 58 countries and earned the highest score in sub-Saharan Africa, reflecting major reforms to improve competition and transparency in the mining sector.
12. Ghana ranks 69th globally for treatment of elderly persons in first-ever index
Ghana has been ranked 69th in the first-ever global ageing index released October 1, 2013 by the UN Population Fund (UNPF) and advocacy group HelpAge International.
The Global AgeWatch Index, released to mark the UN’s Day of Older Persons, ranked 91 countries by how well their ageing populations are faring.
The index is based on four domains that are key enablers of older people’s wellbeing: Income, Health, Employment and education, and Enabling environment.
Ghana came third highest among eight African countries where the index survey was conducted. Mauritius and South Africa were ahead of Ghana.
13. Ghana 7th in sub-Saharan Africa in 2013 Economic Freedom Index
Investment improvement and prudent government spending gave Ghana a rise in the rankings on the 2013 Index of Economic Freedom released by the American Heritage Foundation in partnership with the Wall Street Journal.
Ghana’s economic freedom scored 61.3 out of 100, making the economy 77th freest in the 2013 Index. In the sub-Saharan Africa region, Ghana placed 7th out of 46 countries in the region.
Ghana’s overall score was 0.6 point better than last year due to” improvements in investment freedom, the control of government spending, and fiscal freedom.” In the 2012 Index, Ghana placed 84th worldwide out of 179 countries with a score of 60.7.
Ghana’s 61.3 score beats both the 2013 Index of world and regional averages of 59.6 and 53.7 respectively.
Mauritius, Botswana, Rwanda, Cape Verde, Madagascar and South Africa placed first to sixth respectively in the region ahead of Ghana. The country was ranked 9th out of 46 countries in the sub-Saharan Africa region in the 2012 edition of the Index.
According to the Index, Ghana’s notable economic growth rate of 8% over the past five years has been supported by strong improvements in economic freedom, with reforms focused on spurring private sector–led development.
14. Ghana ranks 18th in first-ever global slavery index
A major report and first of its kind on the state of global slavery has revealed that an estimated 170,000 to 190,000 persons living in Ghana are been enslaved.
The Global Slavery Index 2013 released October 2013 by Australia-based Walk Free Foundation, showed that Ghana was 18th-worst slave country in the world out of 162 countries.
The GSI provides an estimated range of the number of people in modern slavery, for each of the 162 countries covered by the Index.
In sub-Saharan Africa region, Ghana placed 13th as Mauritania topped the region with highest slave numbers.
Ghana has a population of over 25 million people.
15. Ghana moves up to 63rd in 2013 corruption perception index
With a score of 46 out of 100, Ghana’s position keeps improving on the 2013 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released today December 3, 2013.
Ghana placed 63rd, up from the 64th it ranked in the 2012 edition. The country was 69th in the 2011 edition.
The Index put together by anti-corruption watchdog, Transparency International (TI), ranked Ghana among 177 countries in the 2013 edition compared to 174 in 2012.
The surveys and assessments used to compile the Index include questions relating to the bribery of public officials, kickbacks in public procurement, embezzlement of public funds, and questions that probe the strength and effectiveness of public-sector anti-corruption efforts.
16. Ghana ranks 7th in 2013 Ibrahim Index of African Governance
The 2013 Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG), released on Monday,October 14th shows that Ghana ranks 7th out of 52 African countries.
Ghana is one of eight countries to have remained consistently in the IIAG’s top ten since 2000 — along with Mauritius, Botswana, Cape Verde, South Africa, Namibia, Seychelles and Tunisia.
The 2013 IIAG provides full details of Ghana’s performance across four categories of governance: Safety & Rule of Law, Participation & Human Rights, Sustainable Economic Opportunity and Human Development.
Since 2000, Ghana has shown its biggest improvement in the category of Human Development. Human Development measures welfare, education and health.
17. Ghana places 86th in 2013 World Happiness Index
Ghana placed 86th in the 2013 World Happiness Index published in September 2013.
The country recorded a score 5.09, according to the United Nations’ second annual report.
18. Ghana ranks first in StanChart 2013 Sustainable Development Index
Ghana came first in a 31-country sustainable development index prepared by British bank, Standard Chartered.
The country was ahead of nations such as Korea, Egypt, France, Brazil among others.
The report looks at measures of sustainable development and human well-being.
19. Ghana tops West Africa in 2014 World Bank doing business index
Ghana emerged number one destination in ease of doing business among countries in the ECOWAS region, according to the 2014 Doing Business report released October 29, 2013.
Ghana, the region’s second largest economy, was followed by Cape Verde, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria.
Ghana fell to place 67th globally in the 2014 index.
Published by the World Bank Group, the 2014 Doing Business Report titled “Understanding Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises” analyzed regulations that apply to an economy’s businesses during their life cycle, including start-up and operations, trading across borders, paying taxes, and resolving insolvency.
Compiled by Ekow Quandzie