Economic Freedom, Morocco ranks first in North Africa- Heritage Foundation’s index

Morocco outperformed all North African countries in the Heritage Foundation’s Economic Freedom index, which cites the reforms that boosted the private sector’s dynamism.

The annual index covers 12 freedoms—from property rights to financial freedom—in 184 countries.

Morocco’s score improved by 3.5 points to 60.3, with its global ranking enhanced to 86th position.

Morocco is now the only country in North Africa with the status of “moderately free” thanks to reforms including enhanced regulatory efficiency and streamlined procedures for setting up and registering private enterprises.

The Heritage Foundation also mentions continued efforts to diversify the productive base and improve competitiveness as well as monetary stability with relatively modest inflation.

In North Africa, economic freedoms remain generally weak, as only Morocco qualifies as “Moderately Free,” the report notes, adding that Egypt and Mauritania fall into the “Mostly Unfree” category, while Tunisia and Algeria are classified in the category of “Repressed economies”, ranking respectively in the 149 and 160 spots. Algeria outperforms with a tiny margin closed economies such as the Central African Republic and North Korea.

Across the African continent, where 52 countries were evaluated (Libya and Somalia were excluded from the study), Mauritius (75.0 points, 15th globally) leads the rankings as the only African nation in the “Mostly Free” teer. Following behind are Botswana (69.9 points, 31st globally), Cape Verde (68.7 points, 40th globally), Seychelles (66.4 points, 52nd globally), São Tomé and Príncipe (60.4 points, 85th globally), and Morocco (60.3 points, 86th globally). These five countries are the only African nations classified as “Moderately Free.”

Globally, Singapore topped the ranking, followed by Switzerland, Ireland and Taiwan.

According to the latest findings, the global economy remains “largely unfree,” with the worldwide average score improving by just 1.1 points from the previous year to reach 59.7 out of 100