Our Country Risk Score is developed based on several internationally recognised indexes and covers

• Worker’s rights, 
• Civil rights, 
• Political rights, and 
• Corruption. 

All indexes are updated annually. Position Green updates its own scoring annually, to ensure it is up-to-date.

Position Green has combined the scores of these indices but has weighted them differently based on what we consider to be most important and relevant to our customers. This results in one overall risk score for each country, which is unique to other publicly available risk scores.

Workers’ Rights

Workers’ Rights are fundamental principles and rights at work. For this measure, we’ve used the Global Rights Index (ITUC).

Global Rights Index

The International Trade Union Confederation’s (ITUC) Global Rights Index ranks countries on the degree of respect for workers’ rights.

The index is based on a comprehensive review of workers’ rights in law in 149 countries, providing the only database of its kind. It covers violations in both law (legal analysts identify legislations that fail to protect workers’ rights) and practice (violations identified by ITUC affiliates).

A list of indicators based on violations recorded in the ITUC survey is compiled, and countries receive one point for each identified violation. The countries are rated on a scale from 1 (best) to 5 (worst) based on the degree of respect for workers’ rights.

Civil Rights

Civil Rights are designed to protect individuals’ freedom from violation by governments, political and social organisations, and individuals. For this measure, we’ve used Freedom in the World (Freedom House) and the Democracy Index (The Economist).

Freedom in the World

Freedom in the World assesses the real-world rights and freedoms enjoyed by individuals, placing greater emphasis on implementation, although both law and actual practices are factored into the scoring decisions.

The methodology is derived in large measure from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the scoring process is two-tiered, consisting of scores (awarded per indicator) and status (determined based on overall score, either: Free; Partly Free; or Not Free)

For Civil Rights, the Freedom House index considers: Freedom of Expression and Belief; Associational and Organizational Rights; Rule of Law; and Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights.

The Democracy Index 

The Democracy Index provides a snapshot of the state of democracy worldwide.

The Democracy Index is based on the ratings of 60 indicators, grouped into 5 categories. The overall index is the simple average of the five category indexes. Based on a score, countries are classified as one of four types of regimes: Full Democracy; Flawed Democracy; Hybrid Regime; or Authoritarian Regime.

For Civil Rights, the Democracy Index considers: the degree of freedom in relation to the media, Expression, Religion, and Organization of trade unions; Independence of Judiciary; Equal treatment under the law; Use of torture by the state; Basic Security; Private property rights; Personal freedoms; Protections of human rights; and Discrimination.

Political Rights

Political rights are designed to allow individuals to participate freely in the political system. For this measure, we’ve used both Freedom in the World (Freedom House) and the Democracy Index (The Economist).

Freedom in the World

In addition to what has been referred to above, for political rights, the Freedom House Index considers: Electoral Process; Political Pluralism and Participation; and Functioning of Government.

The Democracy Index 

In addition to what has been referred to above, for political rights, the Democracy Index considers: Electoral Process and Pluralism; Functioning of Government; and Political Participation.

Corruption

Corruption affects the fulfilment of human rights, especially for people from vulnerable groups. Corruption can lead to a violation of several human rights, for example, the right to life, the right to defense, and the right to a fair trial. For this measure, we’ve used Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).

Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index

The CPI is the most widely used global corruption ranking. It ranks countries and territories around the world by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, according to experts and businesspeople.

Each country’s score is a combination of at least 3 data sources drawn from 13 different corruption surveys and assessments, all collected by a variety of reputable institutions.