Israel is the eight safest country in the world and “best country” to live in the Middle East, according to latest data.
Israel has been a defender of Judeo-Christian values in the Middle East. As a consequence, Israel has improved its protection and respect for women’s rights -something that many of their neighbouring countries may appear to lack – becoming the best country for women in the Middle East.
The Global Wealth Migration Review by New World Wealth reports the best countries for women in the world.
The 10 safest countries for woman worldwide during the past year (2017) were:
- Australia
- Malta
- Iceland
- New Zealand
- Canada
- Poland
- Monaco
- Israel
- USA
- South Korea
The safest countries in each region were:
- Europe: Malta, Poland, Monaco, Iceland.
- Asia Pacific: Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Japan, South Korea.
- Middle East: Israel, UAE.
- Africa: Mauritius, Botswana, Namibia.
- Americas: USA, Canada
This is important for market researchers because there is a positive correlation between wealth growth and women’s safety levels. That is, the more women’s safety improves, the more wealth grows. Additionally, women’s safety levels are used as a predictor of the performance of emerging markets, which may encourage developing countries to promote women’s protection.
This is also confirmed by other sources. A 2017 report by the World Economic Forum suggests that overall Israel is the best country for women in the Middle East. The report assesses the development and deployment of women, because, as they assert, it is important to know what countries are doing with half of their potential. The data is summarised in Table 1.
As it is evident, Israel outscores all of their neighbours, being placed 44th while the closest contestant is placed 120th (i.e. 76 places below). Yemen is the world’s last place. It is worth highlighting that Israel is first place in educational attainment.
Table 1- Best countries for women in the Middle East | ||||||
Middle East Rank | Country | Global Rank | Economic Participation & Opportunity | Educational Attainment | Health & Survival | Political Empowerment |
1 | Israel | 44(↑5) | 65 | 1 | 98 | 47 |
2 | UAE | 120(↑4) | 130 | 62 | 129 | 67 |
3 | Bahrain | 126(↑5) | 120 | 75 | 136 | 137 |
4 | Kuwait | 129(↓1) | 125 | 52 | 117 | 141 |
5 | Qatar | 130(↓11) | 122 | 33 | 127 | 143 |
6 | Turkey | 131(↓1) | 128 | 101 | 59 | 118 |
7 | Egypt | 134(↓2) | 135 | 104 | 99 | 119 |
8 | Jordan | 135(↓1) | 138 | 51 | 113 | 126 |
9 | Lebanon | 137(↓3) | 133 | 109 | 109 | 142 |
10 | Saudi Arabia | 138(↑3) | 142 | 96 | 130 | 124 |
11 | Iran | 140(↓1) | 140 | 100 | 135 | 136 |
12 | Syria | 142(-) | 144 | 110 | 1 | 130 |
13 | Yemen | 144(-) | 141 | 141 | 119 | 144 |
Notes: The prior year differences is enclosed in parentheses. |
CUFI applauds the effort by the government and the Israelis to make the country a better place for women, but also recognises the efforts of women committing themselves to succeed in a region where sadly women do not have the same rights.