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Entrepreneurial spirit rising in UK

29/10/2012

By Daniel Hunter

Overall prosperity is on the rise in the UK, according to the latest findings from the Legatum Institute’s Prosperity Index.

Britain climbed one place in the worldwide prosperity rankings in 2012 (to place 13th) — as well as scaling the Governance, and Safety & Security sub-categories (seventh and 20th respectively) — and ranks amongst the world’s 30 ‘Top Performers’ for overall prosperity.

The Legatum Prosperity Index is a unique and robust assessment of global wealth and wellbeing, which benchmarks 142 countries around the world in eight distinct categories: Economy; Education; Entrepreneurship & Opportunity; Governance; Health; Personal Freedom; Safety & Security; and Social Capital.

According to the Index, the UK outperforms America in the Entrepreneurship & Opportunity sub-index (placing sixth and 12th respectively) and Governance (seventh and tenth respectively) and, with the US dropping to 12th position in the overall rankings, the UK is expected to overtake its ally by 2014.

Economy - the thorn in Britain’s side

However, poor economic performance and low confidence in the health of the UK economy could hold back Britain’s prosperity. The UK fell four places in the Economy sub-index since last year, now ranking in 26th position.

According to the Index, job satisfaction is particularly low in Britain. Just 12.3% of citizens agree that it is a good time to find a job, compared to the US (26% agree) and the BRICs (59%, 27%, 41% and 37% respectively).

In addition, the proportion of ICT exports also dropped to 1.9% of total exports from 2.2%.

By contrast, Germany has scaled the Economy rankings — rising from eighth to sixth place — reporting higher levels of confidence in their financial institutions (47% compared to the UK at 39%) and high levels of satisfaction with their living standards (89% report being satisfied). UK citizens’ satisfaction with living standards... continued on page two >

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