Ghana’s economy ranked 84th freest worldwide

Ghana’s economic freedom has scored an overall score of 60.7, making it the 84th freest worldwide out of 179 countries, according to the 2012 Index of Economic Freedom released by the American Heritage Foundation in partnership with the Wall Street Journal.

Ghana, the world’s second-largest producer of cocoa, was ranked 9th out of 46 countries in the sub-Saharan Africa region, and its overall score has risen above both the world average (59.5) and regional average of 53.7. Mauritius topped the region with 77 points.

Ghana’s overall score was 1.3 points better than last year (2011) and was “due to improvements in four of the 10 freedoms including labor freedom and monetary freedom” the report said.

Recording one of the 20 largest score improvements in the 2012 Index, the conductors of the report commented “Ghana has become a “moderately free” economy.”

With a five-point increase in economic freedom since 2006, it argues that the economy has been growing at an average rate of 6% per year. “A vibrant private sector, benefitting from macroeconomic stability and ongoing reforms, has contributed to the economic expansion,” the report adds.