Ireland rates in the top ten countries for prosperity

Ireland has ranked 10th in the 2012 Global Prosperity Legatum Index which rates 142 countries across the globe for global wealth and well-being. This is up one place from 11th in 2011.

This is good news for Ireland in terms of its attractiveness for foreign direct investment. Ireland ranked above other influential countries such as the UK and the USA and Germany who ranked 13th, 12th and 14th respectively.

The index is calculated by the Legatum Institute – a public policy organisation based in London. It uses eight criteria under which to survey countries in order to get a picture of how they rate for wealth and well-being. These include economy, education, entrepreneurship and opportunity, governance, health, personal freedom, safety and security and social capital.

Ireland’s strongest performance was in safety and security, personal freedom and social capital, which offers global business leaders huge confidence in bringing large numbers of business people and their families to Ireland. Ireland has before been rated as one of the safest places in the world to bring up a family and this has once again been compounded by the new research published this week by the Legatum Institute.

While Ireland’s weakest category was under Economic Strength, it still rated higher in this category than the UK. The USA was moved out of the top 10 for the first time since the index began some six years ago.

The message is clear to companies considering expansion to Europe – Ireland is open for business and more-so Ireland is THE place to do business!

Read more http://www.prosperity.com/