Qatar ranks as 'safest country in the world'

The tiny Gulf state stood at the top of the 2020 mid-year Numbeo crime index, making it the safest country in the world.

From 2015-2019, Qatar ranked as the top safest Arab country in the region and worldwide in 2017 and 2019.

The Numbeo Index is the largest-user contributed database that tracks cities and countries.

This year, the index noted Qatar had registered the lowest crime rate with 11.90 points out of 100, making it the safest on the list.

The report comes as Qatar faces an ongoing blockade imposed by its Gulf neighbours since 2017, when Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt closed off all borders with the country and presented a list of 13 demands.

The bitter rift came over Saudi and UAE accusations that Qatar supports extremist groups and wanted closer links with Iran, the arch-rival of regional power Saudi Arabia, claims strongly denied by Doha.

Last month, Qatar ranked sixth on a list of 63, mostly high-income, countries for economic performance and poised to bounce back after the coronavirus crisis.

The ranking, published in the International Institute for Management Development's (IMD) World Competitiveness Yearbook, also placed the Gulf state 14th for competetiveness, ahead of Germany (17) the United Kingdom (19) and China (20).

The IMD based its analysis on national statistics and feedback from business managers in the countries ranked. 

"Landing itself an impressive 14th place globally, Qatar has proven to be impressively resilient to crises. As by the end of 2019 the global economy was already starting to look shaky, and although our rankings show that Qatar was among of the first to show tangible signs of this, compared to other economies, Qatar quickly reacted," Chief Economist at the IMD World Competitiveness Center, Prof. Christos Cabolis, said.

Three years after the blockade on Qatar began, Doha has reduced its past dependency on food and other essential imports from its Gulf partners and built alternative trade routes.

Doha's economic performance through the twin challenges of the blockade and the virus pandemic has been hailed.

"This is a sign of a crisis resilient economy, especially in the face of a global downturn," Cabolis said of the IMD ranking. 

"We expect Qatar to be one of the first to rebound from the current global situation."



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