Iran’s Global Standing Improved in 11 Indices in Rouhani’s Term

According to the international data and assessment reports, Iran’s ranking rose in 11 of the 13 key economic indices during 2013-16, which indicates that the country’s government and people have put in a convincing performance in this duration.

According to a Farsi report by the Donya-ye Eqtesad newspaper, ranking countries on a global scale in terms of their diverse economic indices to clearly and precisely determine their international standing, is a subject of interest to a large number of the world’s organizations. Iran is also subject to evaluation by international organizations and institutes based on its performance in terms of these indicators of economic performance.

According to the international data, in this period, Iran’s world standing soared the highest in the indices of the international innovation, ease of doing business and trade credit risk.

As per an assessment published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Iran stood 113th worldwide in 2013 in terms of its performance in the International Innovation Index. The country, nevertheless, jumped 35 spots to world’s No. 78 in 2016.

In the ease of doing business index, as one of the most important indices giving a general overview of a country’s economic condition, Iran leaped 32 places to world’s No. 120 in 2016, from No. 152 in 2013.

Also, according to an assessment by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the country which used to rank 86th in 2013 worldwide in Trade Credit Risk Index, climbed 32 places to stand 54th in 2016.

Iran’s ranking in the world has also witnessed improvement – though not as remarkable as the three abovementioned indicators – in the indices of economic freedom, logistics performance, misery, global entrepreneurship and development, life quality, corruption perceptions, international property rights and the satisfaction with life.

A more in-depth and detailed review of Iran’s performance in the key international economic indices, is indicative of the country’s improved world standing in most of them. According to an assessment published by the economic affairs directorate of Iran’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance, Iran managed to boost its ranking in 11 indices, out of a total number of 13.

The full list of the indices comprises economic freedom, logistics performance, misery, global entrepreneurship and development, life quality, corruption perceptions, international property rights, the satisfaction with life, international innovation, ease of doing business, trade credit risk, E-government development and global competitiveness.

As per the ease of doing business index, the more competitive and transparent a country’s business market and atmosphere are, the healthier its economy will be. A healthy economy leads to the adoption of more favourable and effective economic policies by the government as well as the country’s improved performance in economic indices. An impressive performance by a country in the ease of doing business index also prepares the ground for stimulating economic growth.

An assessment by the Heritage Foundation – the co-creator of the annual index and ranking of economic freedom along with The Wall Street Journal – of the degree of the economic freedom in Iran during the three-year period from 2013-16, indicates that Iran took an 18-spot leap in the world ranking in this duration, to sit in the 155th place in 2016. It used to rank 173rd in 2013.

Economic freedom is the fundamental right of every human to control his or her own labour and property. In an economically free society, individuals are free to work, produce, consume, and invest in any way they please.

Iran moved 16 spots upward in the world standing to No. 96 in 2016 from No. 112 in 2013 in the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) during the three-year time-span. The progress and performance of a country in terms of this index is evaluated by the World Bank.  LPI is an interactive benchmarking tool created to help countries identify the challenges and opportunities in their performance on trade logistics and what they can do to improve their performance.

The misery index is an economic indicator created by economist Arthur Okun. A country’s performance in this index is assessed by International Monetary Fund (IMF). IMF reports show that Iran ascended 15 spots in the world ranking during 2013-2016 in terms of its performance in the index. The country which used to rank third in 2013, stood 18th in 2016. The index helps determine how the average citizen is doing economically and it is calculated by adding the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate to the annual inflation rate.

Global Entrepreneurship Development Institute which assesses the performance of countries in Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index, has reported that Iran jumped 15 spots in the world ranking to No. 85 in 2016 from No. 100 in 2013.

The Life Quality Index (LQI) is a compound social indicator of human welfare that reflects the expected length of life in good health and enhancement of the quality of life through access to income. The LQI combines two primary social indicators: The expectancy of healthy life at birth, E, and the real gross domestic product per person, G, corrected for purchasing power parity as appropriate.

Numbeo’s — a crowd-sourced global database of reported consumer prices, perceived crime rates, quality of healthcare and other statistics — assessment of Iran’s performance in the index shows that in 2016, Iran managed to stand 52nd in world ranking. This is while in the absence of the 14-place-jump, Iran ranked 66th in 2013.

During the same period, Iran also put in a good performance in Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), as assessed by the Transparency International (TI). It used to stand 144th in the world in 2013 and managed to climb 13 spots to 131 in 2016. TI has published the CPI since 1996, annually ranking countries “by their perceived levels of corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys”. The CPI generally defines corruption as “the misuse of public power for private benefit”.

In International Property Rights Index, Iran climbed 10 places to world’s 101 in 2016 from 111 in 2013.

In the three-year time-span, Iran’s performance also improved in the Satisfaction with Life Index. The index is an indicator attempting to show life satisfaction in different nations. The country ascended 10 places in the world to stand 105th in 2016. It used to rank 115th in 2013. The performance of the countries in terms of this index is assessed by the United Nations (UN).

In the same period, Iran, nevertheless, dropped some spots in the world standings, ranking states based on their performance in the indices of the E-government development and global competitiveness. Evaluated by the UN, Iran’s poor performance in the E-government development index during 2013-16, caused the country to lose its place as the world’s No. 100 in 2013 and drop to No. 106 in 2016. In the Global Competitiveness Index, Iran experienced another loss of places in the world ranking during the same period, to stand 74th in 2016. It was in the 66th spot in 2013.