International Property Rights Index 2011

Nepal ranked at the 120th position with a score of 4.4 out of 10, putting it in the bottom 20 per cent of the quintile in the International Property Rights Index for this year.

The International Property Rights Index (IPRI) is a publication of the Property Rights Alliance, with sixty-seven think tanks and policy organisations in fifty-three countries involved in research, policy, development, education and promotion of property rights in various countries.

Compared to last year’s score of 4, Nepal has scored a little higher to 4.4 due to improvement in physical property rights but in overall property right status, Nepal has scored 3.2, in legal and political environment 5.8, in physical property rights and 4.1 and in intellectual property rights 4.1.

Flanking neighbours to Nepal — Peoples Republic of China and India — on the other hand have scored 5.5 and 5.6 respectively, making it to the list of countries, where property rights are better honoured.

Sweden and Finland have tied for the top spot in this year’s index with a score of 8.5, Finland has retained its top spot for the fifth year in a row, whereas in South Asian region, Pakistan and Bangladesh that are below Nepal, scored 4.1 and 3.6, respectively. Nigeria with 3.9 is in the bottom of the list, according to the index.

In the context of Property Rights and Gender Equality, Nepal ranks 68th along with Zambia and Uganda.

Overall, the United States declined to 18th place in the world (from 16th in 2010 and 14th in 2007, when the Index was originally created), losing out to top-ranked Finland.

The biggest contributor to the U.S.’s reduced standing was in the Physical Property Rights category (real property), which accounted for nearly half of the year-over-year decline in points. The variables for this category are protection of physical property rights, property registration, and access to loans. It is here where one might be surprised by some of the countries who rank ahead of the U.S. (ranked 25th) in terms of real property rights: Bahrain (5th), Saudi Arabia (8th), Oman (9th-tie), Botswana (21st-tie), and Tunisia (21st-tie).

(2011 March 22)