Malta ranked first in personal freedom in business

Malta – the smallest economy in the eurozone – ranked 38th out of 153 countries in a list by Forbes ranking business friendliness. 

The list, which was compiled at the end of every year for the past 12 years, took 15 different indicators into consideration when being drawn up. 

A number of different reports, such as the World Bank’s Doing Business Report and the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Competitiveness report, provided the basis for the different categories by which the countries were rated. 

Specifically, Malta ranked 1st in personal freedom, 17th in trade freedom, 35th in monetary freedom, 29th in property rights, 38th in innovation, 22nd in technology, 87th in red tape, 49th in investor protection, 40th in corruption, and 64th in tax burden. Malta showed significant GDP growth of 5.5%, among the highest in Europe.

However, according to the ranking, there has been substantial improvement in red tape, but substantial deterioration in investor protection and tax burden. 

The top five best countries on the list are United Kingdom, New Zealand, and the Netherlands, Sweden, and Canada, while the bottom worst ranked are Libya, Afghanistan, Haiti, Gambia, and Chad.

The United Kingdom topped the list for the first time – up from fifth place last year.