The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has made the largest progress in the level of prosperity in the Middle East and North Africa, supported by leaps in terms of societal capital and institutional conditions, as well as strengthening the role of technology, knowledge, education and economic transformation.
According to the well-being index issued by the "Legatum" Institute, global prosperity reached unprecedented levels before the Coronavirus pandemic, but the pandemic caused a slowdown in the measurement indicators for all countries under evaluation. The index for the year 2020 showed that Saudi Arabia ranked 71st out of 167 countries around the world, as it managed to achieve the strongest performance rates on the institutional conditions pillar (38th), and on the social capital pillar (43rd), with an improvement level that moved the Kingdom 13 places and 8 places straight when compared to the level it was at ten years ago.
The report revealed that the Kingdom has improved its prosperity more than any country in the Middle East and North Africa region, as it climbed 14 places within 10 years, due to factors including "greater tolerance towards immigrants and ethnic minorities."
According to the report, Saudi Arabia embodies a prominent model (ranked 60) in its quest to move from a resource economy towards a knowledge-based economy, indicating an increase in the enrollment rate in higher education from 31 to 69 percent within a decade.
Source (Asharq Al-Awsat Newspaper, Edited)
