India has gained four spots on a global ranking of nations on their measure of prosperity, making it the only country among BRICS nations to show an improvement.
Up four ranks from last year, India ranked 100th on the list while Russia, South Africa and Brazil lost a few notches, and China stayed put at 90. The findings have been released in the latest Legatum Prosperity Index, an annual ranking developed by the London-based Legatum Institute.
The Legatum Institute applauded India for improving governance by legislation "that increased the ability to challenge regulation in the legal system".
The report attributed the gains in business environment and economic quality to improvement in intellectual property rights and massive rise in bank account holders.
The Prosperity Index determined by nine sub-indices — business environment, governance, education, health, safety and security, personal freedom, social capital and natural environment — is reviewed by a panel of academics from various disciplines and reputed schools like London School of Economics, Tufts University, Brookings Institution and University of California, San Diego.
"More people are now satisfied with their standard of living and household incomes," the report said discussing India’s significant improvement in the economic quality and education pillars.
China, on the other hand, has lost out "economically as people perceived greater barriers to trade and less encouragement of competition; and educationally through a falling primary school completion rate," the report said.
Overall, world prosperity increased in 2017 and now sits at its highest level in the last decade even as the world went through turbulence due to terrorism, war against Islamic State and displacement of massive number of people in West Asia and North Africa. The global prosperity is now 2.6% higher than in 2007. While prosperity improved around the world in 2017, no region grew as fast as Asia-Pacific.
The Asia-Pacific region, which includes China and India, registered greatest improvement in business environment and worst performance towards natural environment.
The list is topped by Norway, followed by New Zealand and Finland.
