Bahrain is ranked number one among Arab nations for economic freedom, according to the Economic Freedom of the Arab World: 2010 Annual Report.

Kuwait is ranked second and Lebanon third, according to the annual report co-published by the Fraser Institute, Canada’s leading public policy think-tank, along with the International Research Foundation (IRF) of Oman, and the Cairo office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF).

The report was released November 1 at the start of the annual meeting of the Economic Freedom of the Arab World in Cairo. The meeting attracted delegates from nations throughout the Middle East.

This year, top-ranked Bahrain achieved an overall score of 8.0 out of 10, up from 7.9 last year. Kuwait maintained its second-place ranking with a score of 7.8, while Lebanon, which last year was tied with Kuwait, fell slightly to third place with a score of 7.6. Oman, which again placed fourth, also saw its score drop slightly, slipping to 7.5 from 7.7.

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