Algeria is one of the worst countries in the world for economic freedom according to the latest ranking issued in the Economic Freedom of the World: 2017 Annual Report, Middle East Monitor reported. The figures, compiled by Canadian think tank the Fraser Institute, rank countries according to access to a free market, free trade and entrepreneurial freedom. These criteria are grouped into five main groups: size of government (expenditure, size of state controlled enterprises, taxation, etc.), legal system and property rights, inflation, freedom of trade at the international level and regulation of credit, labor and business. Algeria ranked 156 out of 159 countries in the list and was the lowest ranking country in the Middle East and North Africa. The figures were compiled in 2015. The data used for the ranking system came from institutions such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the World Economic World based on surveys, expert analysis and case studies. Algeria is currently going through one of the hardest economic crises seen during the presidency of Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
