The Euromoney Group's quarterly survey on global country risk shows that the risk level in the Arab world was stable in the third quarter of 2018, as the average score of 19 Arab economies was unchanged quarter-on-quarter at 39.2 points. A higher score represents a lower country risk level. The region's risk level was higher than the global risk level of 43.2 points in the covered quarter. It was also higher than the risk levels of North America (79.1 points), Western Europe (73.1 points), Central & Eastern Europe (49.2 points), Latin America (45.5 points), and Asia (43 points). In contrast, it was lower than the risk levels of the Caribbean (36.5 points), Sub-Saharan Africa (30.5 points), and Australasia (27.8 points). The average scores of GCC countries and non-GCC Arab countries were also unchanged from the preceding quarter at 58.8 points and 30.1 points, respectively. The Arab world's Political Risks score of 11.64 points was lower than the global average of 13.73 points, while its Economic Performance score of 12.74 points was below the global average of 13.43 points. Further, the region's Credit Ratings score averaged 2.47 points relative to the global average of 3.06 points; while the Access to Bank Finance & Capital Markets score was 4.41 points, higher than the global average of 4.25 points. Qatar had the lowest country risk level in the Arab world and the 29th lowest globally, followed by Kuwait (33rd), the UAE (38th), Saudi Arabia (48th) and Oman (50th). 
Source: Euromoney Group, Byblos Research