Tag Archives: New Zealand

The Economic Freedom Index 2013

The Economic Freedom Index, compiled by the Heritage Foundation, is a measure of the economic freedom given to citizens in each of the 185 countries where it is measured. A total of ten components of economic freedom are considered, all grouped under four categories: rule of law, limited government, regulatory efficiency, and open markets.

The highest ranking country in the list is Hong Kong, with a score of 89.3, affording its citizens the highest degree of economic freedom in the world. Hong Kong is followed by Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Canada, Chile, Mauritius, Denmark, and the United States, among the top ten.

On the opposite side, the most repressed countries in terms of economic freedom include North Korea, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Eritrea, and Burma.

Source: International Business Times: US Economic Freedom Is At Lowest Point Since 2000 [MAP]

Minutes of Minimum-Wage Work to Buy a Big Mac Burger

Using the criteria of the Big Mac Index developed by The Economist in 1986 as a way to measure if currencies are valued at the right level, the International Business Times created this visualization showing how many minutes a minimum-wage worker needs to work in order to buy a Big Mac burger.

As it turns out, a minimum-wage worker in Afghanistan needs to work 372 minutes (6.2 hours) in order to buy a Big Mac burger. In contrast, a minimum-wage worker in Australia needs to work only 18 minutes to buy a Big Mac burger.

Source: International Business Times: Minutes Of Minimum-Wage Work To Buy A Big Mac: 36 minutes in the US, 6 hours in Afghanistan

The Quality of Democracy by Country

Global Democracy Ranking released the Democracy Ranking for the year 2012, which shows the quality of democracy around the world.

Several indicators were used to calculate the Global Democracy Ranking. Those indicators were selected from a vast variety of dimensions such as politics, economy, environment, gender equality, education, health, and knowledge.

As seen in the map above, countries ranked at the top (dark green), those with the highest quality of democracy include Norway, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Denmark, Netherlands, New Zealand, Germany, Ireland, and Austria. In contrast, we find countries where democracy is at serious risk or where it is no longer a viable system (brown). Among these countries we have Yemen, Syria, Libya, Togo, Guinea-Bissau, China, Pakistan, Egypt, Nigeria, and Haiti.

Source: Global Democracy Ranking: Democracy Ranking 2012

Human Development Index 2012

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite measure that includes three indicators: life expectancy at birth, level of education attained, and income. The HDI is an alternative to the purely economical GDP, that quantifies economic growth only. Thus, the HDI provide a way to gauge the development of a country. The HDI for 2012 includes 187 countries.

The HDI ranks countries according to their degree of development using a scale from 0 to1, 0 being the least developed and 1 being the most developed country.

In the HDI map above, published by the Brazilian media site Globo.com we find that Norway has a score of 0.955, ranking number one as the most developed country (color green). Norway is followed by Australia, the U.S., the Netherlands, Germany, New Zealand, among others.

At the other end of the spectrum we find the least developed nations (color purple), including the majority of African nations, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Papua New Guinea.

How Welcome Are Foreign Visitors in Your Country?

When traveling around the world, tourists do not know which countries will welcome them, and which countries won’t.

A recent report on world tourism by the World Economic Forum fills that void. The report compiled a list of the most and least friendly countries for tourists. Using a scale from 1 to 7, where 1 stands for the unfriendliest countries, and 7 stands for the friendliest nations, the report ranks countries according to the attitude of the population toward foreign visitors.

As seen in the map above, among the unfriendliest nations we find Bolivia, Venezuela, Russia, Kuwait, Latvia, Iran, Pakistan, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Mongolia. Among the friendliest nations we find Iceland, New Zealand, Morocco, Macedonia, Austria, Senegal, Portugal, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ireland, and Burkina Faso.

Resource: World Economic Forum: The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013

The Political Rights of Women Worldwide

Back in 1912, the only countries where women had the right to vote were: New Zealand, which had granted voting rights to women as early as 1893; Australia, which had granted women the right to vote in 1902; and Finland, which had granted voting rights to women in 1906.

Fifty years later, in 1962, most nations in the world had granted women the right to vote. However, there were still many countries where women could not vote. Such countries included African nations like Morocco, Libya, Sudan, Congo, Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, and Lesotho; countries in the Middle East like Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Oman, Iran, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh; Papua New Guinea, the only country is Asia. The nation that comes as a surprise in Switzerland, where women were granted voting rights as recently as 1971.

As of 2012, women have the right to vote anywhere in the world, except in Saudi Arabia.

For interactive maps on women voting rights, the right of women to stand for election, and first women elected to office worldwide, please visit: 777 Voting: Women’s Political Rights Around the World

Expected Years of Schooling for Females Worldwide

The expected years of schooling for females varies from country to country.

Developed nations such as the United States, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Norway, Iceland, Australia, New Zealand, etc., show the highest number of expected years of schooling (15 to 21 years) for girls. Other nations in this group include Argentina, Uruguay, Kazakhstan, Libya, and South Korea.

On the other hand, countries with the lowest number of expected years of schooling (0 to 8 years) for females include most African countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Papua New Guinea.

Resource: The World Bank DataBank: Gender Statistics – Expected years of schooling for females

The Most and Least Peaceful Countries

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Vision for Humanity has compiled the Global Peace Index (GPI) for 2012. The GPI is a composite index that measures the peacefulness of countries around the world. It considers 23 weighted quantitative and qualitative indicators such as perceived criminality in society, access to weapons, imports of weapons, military expenditure, homicides, political instability, jailed population, weapons exports, violent crime, among others.

The lower the score, the more peaceful the nation. I that context, the most peaceful country is Iceland, followed by Denmark, New Zealand, Canada and Japan. On the other end of the spectrum, the least peaceful country is Somalia, followed by Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The interactive map can be found at: Vision of Humanity: 2012 Global Peace Index

For detailed information about the GPI and its methodology, visit: Institute for Economics and Peace: Global Peace Index 2012

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