The British Legatum Institute released its unique annual assessment of global wealth and wellbeing.  The report covers 142 economies around the world in eight categories. Mongolia has moved up six places on the index since 2009, to 57th place this year. The 2013 Legatum Prosperity Index offers a unique insight into how prosperity is forming and changing across the world.
The Legatum Prosperity Index 2013 ranks over 100 countries in the categories of Economy, Education, Entrepreneurship Opportunity, Governance, Health, Personal Freedom, Safety, Security and Social Capital.
Out of all the categories, Mongolian Personal Freedom has notably increased, having climbed 26 places to 74 this year due to large increases in tolerance for immigrants and satisfaction with freedom of choice.
Norway has maintained first place on the overall Prosperity Index from 2009 to 2013.
The Asia-Pacific region encompasses a varied set of countries ranging from highly developed nations, to fast-growing emerging markets, and low-income and developing countries. The region includes some of the world’s most prosperous nations, such as New Zealand and Australia (ranked 5th and 7th respectively), and conversely some of the lowest ranking countries, such as India —which has seen major and continued declines in prosperity since 2009.
Since the middle of the twentieth century, Asia has been a place of rapid economic expansions, from the Tiger economies in the 1960s, to the epic rise of China in the 1990s, and the more recent development of South-East Asian countries such as Vietnam. The 2013 Prosperity Index finds that, for most countries in Asia, improvements in the Economy sub-index coincide with an improvement in overall prosperity.