Muscat: The Sultanate of Oman ranked third in the Gulf in the World Democracy Index 2022, according to the Information Unit of the British Economist magazine.
The Sultanate of Oman came after Kuwait and Qatar, while the UAE came fourth, Bahrain fifth, and Saudi Arabia sixth.
Additionally, The Sultanate of Oman advanced five places in the World Democracy Index. The Sultanate ranked 125th globally in the 2022 index, compared to 130th in the 2021 index.
Globally, Norway topped the index, followed by New Zealand and Ireland. Afghanistan ranked at the end of the ranking, followed by Myanmar.
According to the report, the average score of the global index witnessed a stagnation in 2022, and despite expectations of a recovery after the lifting of epidemic-related restrictions, the result is nearly unchanged, which cancelled the positive effect of restoring individual freedoms.
The report also stated that the scores of more than half of the countries measured by the index had witnessed stagnation or decline. Western Europe was a positive case, as it was the only region whose scores returned to pre-pandemic levels.