An important assessment of the changes in Bulgaria's development can be found in the reports that came out in 2011 by leading international organizations. After an overview of some of the most important international indices/charts we can point out that our country improves its positions:
- As per the "Index of Economic Freedom" (The Heritage Foundation, The Wall Street Journal) Bulgaria improved its position as 60th out of 179 countries in 2011 from 75th place in 2010;
- As per the “Index of Economic Freedom Worldwide" (The Fraser Institute, Canada), Bulgaria ranked 28th out of 141 countries in 2011, going up by eight positions ahead compared to 2010 (36th place) ;
- In the ranking "Best countries for Business" (Forbes) Bulgaria improved its position - 47th place in 2011 being 53 rd in 2010 ranking. 134 countries participate in the ranking. The criteria that have the most significant contribution to our better position are: freedom of trade (11th place) and functioning of the market (32 nd place);
- According to the "Global Competitiveness Index" (World Economic Forum) Bulgaria occupied 71 st place in 2011-2010, going up by 5 positions as compared to 2010-2009 (76th position) among 139 countries;
- The "Index of Human Development" (UN), Bulgaria's place was 55th in 2011 and 58th in 2010 of a total of 187 participating countries.
For the first time the International Chamber of Commerce has published "an index of openness of markets," according to which Bulgaria was at 14th position in 2011.
In 2011, some of the published reports showed that our country worsened its position:
- According to the "Index of perception of corruption" (Transparency International) in 2011 Bulgaria occupied 86th place among 183 countries, falling by 13 positions compared to 2010 (73 rd place);
- According to the report "Doing Business 2012" (World Bank) our country is in the 59th place among 183 countries as per the "Index of doing business", we had in a more favorable position in the previous report (51st place).
- The Ranking of World Competitiveness (International Institute for Management Development) Bulgaria occupied one of the last places (55th in 2011 and 53 rd in 2010) with 59 countries participating in the chart;
- The "Index of Property Right" (Property Rights Alliance) in 2011 our country was at the 64th position from 129 countries and an year earlier Bulgaria occupied 59th place.
These indices/charts are an important benchmark for the areas in which Bulgaria needs to make changes in order to improve its positions.
Detailed information on each of the indices can be obtained by BCCI”s “Economic Analyses and Policy” Department, tel: +359 2/8117 411, E-mail: ikan@bcci.bg.