Prosperity Index 2026: Morocco ranks 76th globally and second in the Maghreb

The 2026 Global Prosperity Index, issued by Britain’s Legatum Institute, has revealed a mixed performance for Morocco, which ranked 76th globally out of 161 countries covered by the index. The ranking highlights significant disparities in the Kingdom’s performance across several areas.

One of Morocco’s strengths lies in the “society” pillar, where the Kingdom ranked 60th worldwide, driven in particular by its performance in the “family cohesion” indicator, in which it placed 36th globally. Morocco also ranked 75th in the “integrity of the state and its institutions” indicator and 80th in “health.”

In terms of freedoms, Morocco ranked 84th worldwide. It performed better in the “economic freedom” indicator, where it placed 54th globally but lagged further behind in “freedom of opposition and expression,” ranking 108th, and in “civil peace,” where it came 86th.

By contrast, the “development” pillar emerged as the main weakness in Morocco’s overall assessment, with the country ranking 103rd globally. This position is largely linked to weak performance in several social fields, foremost among them education, where Morocco ranked 122nd worldwide, in addition to placing 104th in the “living standards” indicator.

Morocco second in the Maghreb, fourth in Africa

Within the Maghreb, Morocco came second behind Tunisia, which ranked 75th globally. Algeria followed in third place at 83rd, then Libya at 115th, and Mauritania at 119th.

At the African level, Morocco ranked fourth, behind Mauritius, which topped the continental ranking and placed 63rd globally, followed by Botswana, second in Africa and 70th worldwide, and Tunisia, third in Africa and 75th globally.

Globally, Switzerland topped the index, followed by Norway, then Ireland in third place, Denmark in fourth, and Finland in fifth. At the other end of the ranking were the Central African Republic, Chad, Niger, and Eritrea.

The composition of the world’s 20 and 30 most prosperous countries is undergoing a notable shift, as the traditional dominance of North America and Western Europe recedes and Eastern European countries enter the list, most notably Estonia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, and Latvia. Estonia, ranked 19th, and Lithuania, ranked 25th, both placed ahead of Spain (26th) and Italy (28th), while France came 21st.

Among major powers, the United States (17th) overtook the United Kingdom (18th) for the first time since 2015, albeit by a narrow margin, benefiting from stronger performance in living standards and gross national income per capita, despite weaker rankings in health, family cohesion, and community cohesion. The United Kingdom, by contrast, outperforms the United States in health and family cohesion but trails it in the community cohesion indicator.