Philippines places 92nd and 100th in freedom and prosperity lists

We are living in turbulent times, and 2024 is without doubt a crucial year. A total of sixty-four countries and almost half of the population of the world will hold national elections this year. Their results will determine the future path for freedom and prosperity in years to come.

This report presents the annual update of our indexes, which portray a clear picture of the situation of the world during this decisive year. Moreover, a detailed analysis of the trends of freedom, prosperity, and their respective components during the last decade uncovers several striking facts that can help us understand how we got to this critical juncture.

The Philippines ranked 92nd and 100th out of 164 countries in the 2024 edition of the Freedom and Prosperity Indexes published by US-based think tank Atlantic Council. Out of possible 100 points, the country scored 62.5 in the freedom index (low freedom) and 60.4 in the prosperity index (low prosperity).

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Source: Business World and Atlantic Council

Vienna secures its position as the world’s most liveable city

Vienna has been named the world’s most liveable city for the third year running, according to the results of EIU’s latest annual Global Liveability Index.

The index ranks the liveability of 173 cities across five key categories, including stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. This year’s survey saw a rise in average scores, driven by gains in healthcare and education across developing countries, although this has been largely offset by declines in scores for several top-tier cities.

Western Europe has retained its position as the most liveable region in the world, with Copenhagen, Zurich and Geneva once again making it to the top ten. The 30 western European cities in this year’s ranking reported an impressive average score of 92 out of 100. However, the region has seen the biggest fall in score, owing to a deterioration in the stability category, which was also the biggest declining factor in all five categories in the index globally. 

Four Asia-Pacific cities—Melbourne and Sydney (Australia), Osaka (Japan) and Auckland (New Zealand) are among this year’s top ten most liveable cities in the world. The Australasian cities continue to rank within the top 20. This time, however, we have downgraded overall infrastructure scores for Australia, owing to an ongoing housing crisis that has led to an all-time low availability of rental properties in many of the cities.

Cities in the Middle East and North Africa present a mixed bag. Israel’s conflict with Hamas has led to Tel Aviv being the biggest faller down the ranks, dropping by 20 places to the 112th place. While the conflict has dealt a blow to the region’s stability scores, strong gains in education and healthcare in many of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have pushed up the region’s overall liveability. The biggest increase in scores was registered by the cities in the UAE (Abu Dhabi, Dubai) and Saudi Arabia (Riyadh, Jeddah and Al Khobar). Despite improvements, the region is also home to the least liveable cities—Algiers (Algeria), Tripoli (Libya) and Damascus (Syria).

An acute housing crisis has pulled down infrastructure scores for Canada, with Toronto registering the biggest decline among the Canadian cities, and dropping out of our list of the top ten most liveable cities to the 12th position, leaving Calgary and Vancouver as the only two North American cities in the top ten.

Meanwhile, the largest US cities, notably Los Angeles and New York, are ranked at 58th and 70th respectively. However, all 25 of the region’s cities in the index continue to attain the highest tier of liveability (above 80). The region boasts a world-leading average education score and compares favourably with western Europe in terms of infrastructure and culture.

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Source: Economist Intelligence

Philippines has 25-year window to reap benefits of young population

The Philippines has to take advantage of the changing population structure in the next 25 years, when the working-age population will outnumber dependents, according to the World Bank (WB).

“The country has a 25-year window to harness the benefits of a changing population structure. So, the country will have a larger working-age population relative to dependents,” Toni Joe Lebbos, World Bank economist for human development, East Asia and the Pacific, said.

“If we invest today wisely in education, health, and jobs, this demographic shift can boost economic growth. This is a chance to stress that this opportunity won’t last forever and not taking action now would mean missing out on a lot of benefits,” he added.

The Philippines’ latest Human Capital Index (HCI) stood at 0.52, which means that a child born in 2020 can only achieve about 52% of their productive potential by the age of 18. This is lower than the average HCI of upper middle-income economies at 0.56.

The HCI measures the health, education, and training of individuals — indicators deemed crucial to a country’s economic growth.

“In our aging region, the Philippines’ human capital provides an important lifeline of services that are needed for growth. Yet the Philippines is only utilizing only half of its human capital investment,” Mr. Lebbos said.

According to the World Bank, key challenges affecting the Philippines’ human capital include high fertility, limited and unequal access to education and healthcare, poor learning outcomes, low-quality jobs and skills, persistent poverty and inequality, and vulnerability to global headwinds like climate change and pandemics. 

For the Philippines to realize its human capital potential, it must invest in the development of children below 10 years old, the World Bank said in its latest report.

“To ensure optimal start in life for every child as a foundation for boosting human capital, holistic services in the early years including maternal and child health, nutrition, early education and stimulation, development of foundational skills, and social protection in the first 10 years are paramount,” it said.

The World Bank said the Philippine government must also improve the delivery of social protection services.

Local government units (LGUs) have a key role in ensuring on-the-ground investments for human capital, it said. Disadvantaged LGUs, especially those farther from the capital region, are at risk of losing about 26 percentage points of human capital potential, it added.

“The LGUs that have lower indicators seem to be hindered by capacity and governance challenges that often lead to inequitable access to services, and unequal access to services,” Mr. Lebbos said.

Asked which policies can support the development of human capital, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan suggested a possible expansion of the government’s conditional cash transfer program to support out-of-school children.

During the forum, Mr. Balisacan called on lawmakers to approve the Academic Recovery & Accessible Learning Program, which mandates students to take refresher courses in the summer break and address the learning gap. It also backed the passage of the Enterprise-Based Education and Training Framework Act to fit workers’ skills to industry demands.

Meanwhile, the World Bank also expects the country to reach upper middle-income status by 2026, but its key human capital indicators remain below the average of such an income class.

“Whether the Philippines will reach a high-income economy and developed status will really depend on investment in human capital today,” Ndiamé Diop, World Bank country director for Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand said during the forum.

The multilateral lender classifies the Philippines as a low middle-income economy, but the government is hoping it can gain upper middle-income status by next year. 

Upper middle-income economies have a gross national income per capita of $4,466 to $13,845, according to the World Bank.

Source: Business World