World prosperity index: Asia-Pacific grows fastest, India closes gap with China
World Prosperity Index
The prosperity index said world prosperity this year was now 2.6% higher than in 2007.
World prosperity increased this year the most to reach its highest in the last decade, the Legatum Properity Index said.
The prosperity index said world prosperity was now 2.6% higher than in 2007.
At the same time, however, the gap between the "highest and lowest scores in the Index has increased for five straight years", it said.
The prosperity index said the spread between nations is growing, indicating that while prosperity as a whole may be increasing, not all countries are yet benefiting from the increase.
The Index said no region grew as fast as Asia-Pacific, noting that "gains came through a fast-improving business environment", especially in the population centres of India (100th), China (90th), Pakistan (137th) and Indonesia (59th).
"It is now easier to access credit, and intellectual property rights have improved," the report said.
The Index added that every region in the world improved in governance this year with "Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa rising fastest". People also became "more confident" in the outcome of elections, it observed.
"For the first time in the Index, western European prosperity is higher than in North America, "albeit marginally", with western European properity remining broadly constant," it said, adding,"North America fell faster than any other region, due to an increase in the number of homicides and greater societal pressure on citizens’ freedom of religion."