KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30 — Malaysia’s improved economic performance over the past five years, together with a drop in its inflation rate, has shored up its ranking in a list of the most prosperous countries worldwide.

Malaysia was ranked the 44th most prosperous nation out of 142 surveyed, trailing behind Singapore at 18th, but ahead of Thailand (52), Vietnam (62), the Philippines (66), Indonesia (69), Laos (92) and Cambodia (110) on the Legatum Prosperity Index 2013.

London-based think tank Legatum Institute, which has been conducting the survey for seven years now, assessed 142 countries based on their performance in eight areas: governance, economy, entrepreneurship ad opportunity, education, health, personal freedom, safety and security, and social capital.

Malaysia has moved up two rungs on its overall prosperity since 2009, which has seen its rank for the Economy sub-index rising 10 places putting it in 8th place, just behind China but ahead of Germany and Australia which rounded up the countries in the top 10 list of best-performing economies globally.

According to the report released yesterday, Malaysia’s economic improvement is due mainly to a drop in the national inflation rate at 1.7 per cent compared to the global average of 9.2 per cent, and an improvement in the index for food and shelter.

But its safety and security performance dropped by five places to 64th, due mainly to grievances and human emigration.

Norway again topped the list of 142 countries for the fifth year in a row, followed by Switzerland, Canada, Sweden and New Zealand.

The United States and the United Kingdom came in at 11th and 16th respectively.

“The 2013 Prosperity Index finds that, for most countries in Asia, improvements in the Economy sub-index coincide with an improvement in overall prosperity.

“Countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, have also seen big improvements in their Economy scores, which have contributed to their improvements in the overall Prosperity Index,” Legatum Institute said in its Asia-Pacific regional analysis report.

“However, a country’s prosperity is not just determined by the health of its economy. It is also important to have inclusive political institutions, a guarantee of civil liberties, and human capital development, which ensure an educated, free, and healthy citizenry,” it added.

The think tank reported that those other areas of prosperity become of greater note in the Asia-Pacific region where some countries are seeing improvements in overall prosperity, while simultaneously experiencing declines in economic health.

Last year, Malaysia ranked 45th and was singled out together with Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia as “Tiger Cub” countries fast catching up with regional leaders on a list of the most prosperous economies in the world, but was also named as among the worst countries for promoting personal freedom of its citizens.

Legatum Institute had said then that the high-growth markets of China, Malaysia, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam scored well in the economy sub-index but rank among the worst countries for promoting and safeguarding the “personal freedom” of their citizens.