Ghana ranks 55th on world freedom index

Ghana was ranked 55th on the world freedom index in a report released January 8, 2013 by Canada’s leading public policy think-tank Fraser Institute and Germany’s Liberales Institut.

The index is contained in a new book, Towards a Worldwide Index of Human Freedom, which examines the characteristics of “freedom” and how it can best be measured and compared between different nations.

They used two sub indexes in ranking countries – Personal freedom and Economic freedom.

Ghana had an overall score of 7.23 out of ten. For Personal freedom and Economic freedom, Ghana scored 7.3 and 7.17 points respectively.

“Our intention is to measure the degree to which people are free to enjoy classic civil liberties—freedom of speech, religion, individual economic choice, and association and assembly—in each country surveyed. We also look at indicators of crime and violence, freedom of movement, legal discrimination against homosexuals, and women’s freedoms,” said Fred McMahon, Dr. Michael A. Walker Research Chair in Economic Freedom (Fraser Institute) and editor of Towards a Worldwide Index of Human Freedom.

New Zealand topped the index with 8.73 points while Zimbabwe was last with 3.38 points. 123 countries were included in the index.

The average overall point of the index was 6.9.

By Ekow Quandzie