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Rabat – Algeria and Tunisia both ranked as some of the world’s least economically free countries in the latest Economic Freedom Index, released by Canadian think tank the Fraser Institute.
Algeria ranked among the 10 lowest-rated countries, with the institute noting that policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as massive government spending, travel restrictions, and lockdowns “undoubtedly contributed to an erosion of economic freedom for most people.”
While retaining a consistent ranking since 2010, the index has noted a decline for Algeria since it first showed up in the ranking in the 1980s, when it was much closer to the top 100 countries.
Reports from the Arab Barometer from 2019 and 2021 indeed showed that economic concerns were the most prevalent ones among Algeria’s population, with 40% of Algerians citing them as the most important challenge, and 52% in the spring of 2021.
Tunisia on the other hand experienced a much steeper decline, having ranked in the top 70 countries throughout the 80s and 90s, before gradually declining to its current position at 128th place.
Similarly affected by the impact of COVID-19, an April report from the World Bank said that the country’s economic outlook remained “highly uncertain.” In addition to increasing inflation and “unsustainable” debt, the country has also seen unprecedented levels of poverty.
Malek Ezzahi, Tunisia’s Minister of Social Affairs, told Nessma TV earlier this year that close to a million Tunisian families are poor, compared to 300,000 families in 2010. He added that nearly 6 million Tunisians, half of the country’s population, find themselves below the poverty line.
Morocco, for its own part, ranked among the top 100 countries, qualifying for the third quartile of the most economically free countries. But as the country emerges from the effects of COVID-19, its population is faced with a rising cost of living as imported goods become more costly to procure.
The country also has seen a slight decline in its rankings since the 1980s, although its current ranking is an improvement from the 2010s.
The Fraser Institute measures economic freedom by taking into account the size and spending of the government, protection of property rights, levels of inflation, freedom of international trade, and the amount of regulations imposed by the government.
Hong Kong ranked first in the report, with the top 10 also including countries such as Singapore, USA, Switzerland, and Australia.
