News: United Arab Emirates tops the league table for world's best roads
Unruffled Arab Emirates steamrollers Germany
WHERE ARE the best roads in the world? It may sound like the subject of a pub quiz, but new research by the august World Economic Forum claims to have found the answer: the United Arab Emirates.
The tiny Gulf state topped the league in a survey, published last week, of 14,000 businessmen and academics. Respondents were asked to rate the standard of roads in 144 economies around the world on a scale on which 7 represented “extensive and efficient” and 1 “extremely underdeveloped”. The UAE recorded a score of 6.6.
Search for and buy your next car on driving.co.uk
There were some surprising results: Portugal, a country once synonymous with dodgy hire cars and rutted coastal tracks, came second — presumably a result of EU infrastructure grants used to improve its road network — followed by Austria, France and Holland. Germany, often thought of by British drivers as having the best roads in Europe, was 13th.
Britain’s roads fared less well: a score of 5.2 put it in 30th place, behind Taiwan, Croatia and Cyprus and level with Puerto Rico and Namibia.
Motorists contemplating a driving holiday would be advised to avoid East Timor. The country’s potholed and flooded roads scored 1.9 in the survey and placed the Indian Ocean nation joint bottom in the world alongside Guinea.
WEC competitiveness rankings 2014-2015: quality of roads
| Rank | Nation | Score |
| 1 | United Arab Emirates | 6.6 |
| 2 | Portugal | 6.3 |
| 3 | Austria | 6.3 |
| 4 | France | 6.2 |
| 5 | Netherlands | 6.1 |
| 6 | Singapore | 6.1 |
| 7 | Hong Kong SAR | 6.0 |
| 8 | Oman | 6.0 |
| 9 | Switzerland | 6.0 |
| 10 | Japan | 5.9 |
| 11 | Spain | 5.9 |
| 12 | Taiwan, China | 5.9 |
| 13 | Germany | 5.9 |
| 14 | Finland | 5.9 |
| 15 | Luxembourg | 5.7 |
| 16 | United States | 5.7 |
| 17 | Croatia | 5.6 |
| 18 | Korea, Rep | 5.6 |
| 19 | Malaysia | 5.6 |
| 20 | Sweden | 5.5 |
| 21 | Denmark | 5.4 |
| 22 | Bahrain | 5.4 |
| 23 | Canada | 5.3 |
| 24 | Cypru | 5.3 |
| 25 | Ireland | 5.3 |
| 26 | Saudi Arabia | 5.3 |
| 27 | Belgium | 5.3 |
| 28 | Namibia | 5.2 |
| 29 | Puerto Rico | 5.2 |
| 30 | United Kingdom | 5.2 |
| 31 | Chile | 5.1 |
| 32 | Sri Lanka | 5.1 |
| 33 | Barbados | 5.1 |
| 34 | Qatar | 5.0 |
| 35 | New Zealand | 4.9 |
| 36 | Lithuania | 4.9 |
| 37 | South Africa | 4.9 |
| 38 | Slovenia | 4.9 |
| 39 | Iceland | 4.9 |
| 40 | Turkey | 4.9 |
| 41 | Swaziland | 4.9 |
| 42 | Mauritius | 4.8 |
| 43 | Australia | 4.8 |
| 44 | Panama | 4.7 |
| 45 | Israel | 4.7 |
| 46 | Rwanda | 4.7 |
| 47 | El Salvador | 4.6 |
| 48 | Kuwait | 4.6 |
| 49 | China | 4.6 |
| 50 | Thailand | 4.5 |
| 51 | Morocco | 4.5 |
| 52 | Mexico | 4.4 |
| 53 | Dominican Republic | 4.4 |
| 54 | Estonia | 4.4 |
| 55 | Greece | 4.3 |
| 56 | Bhutan | 4.3 |
| 57 | Italy | 4.3 |
| 58 | Hungary | 4.2 |
| 59 | Kenya | 4.2 |
| 60 | Seychelles | 4.2 |
| 61 | Jordan | 4.1 |
| 62 | Gambia, The | 4.1 |
| 63 | Iran, Islamic Rep. | 4.1 |
| 64 | Cape Verde | 4.0 |
| 65 | Georgia | 4.0 |
| 66 | Trinidad and Tobago | 4.0 |
| 67 | Botswana | 4.0 |
| 68 | Lao PDR | 4.0 |
| 69 | Azerbaijan | 4.0 |
| 70 | Suriname | 4.0 |
| 71 | Albania | 3.9 |
| 72 | Indonesia | 3.9 |
| 73 | Côte d’Ivoire | 3.9 |
| 74 | Norway | 3.9 |
| 75 | Pakistan | 3.8 |
| 76 | India | 3.8 |
| 77 | Ethiopia | 3.8 |
| 78 | Guatemala | 3.7 |
| 79 | Ghana | 3.7 |
| 80 | Armenia | 3.7 |
| 81 | Czech Republic | 3.7 |
| 82 | Slovak Republic | 3.7 |
| 83 | Tunisia | 3.7 |
| 84 | Jamaica | 3.7 |
| 85 | Malta | 3.7 |
| 86 | Zambia | 3.6 |
| 87 | Philippines | 3.6 |
| 88 | Nicaragua | 3.6 |
| 89 | Poland | 3.5 |
| 90 | Uruguay | 3.5 |
| 91 | Macedonia, FYR | 3.4 |
| 92 | Senegal | 3.4 |
| 93 | Cambodia | 3.4 |
| 94 | Mali | 3.4 |
| 95 | Bolivia | 3.3 |
| 96 | Honduras | 3.3 |
| 97 | Lesotho | 3.3 |
| 98 | Montenegro | 3.3 |
| 99 | Malawi | 3.3 |
| 100 | Zimbabwe | 3.3 |
| 101 | Burundi | 3.2 |
| 102 | Peru | 3.2 |
| 103 | Guyana | 3.2 |
| 104 | Vietnam | 3.2 |
| 105 | Uganda | 3.2 |
| 106 | Bulgaria | 3.1 |
| 107 | Algeria | 3.1 |
| 108 | Latvia | 3.1 |
| 109 | Tajikistan | 3.0 |
| 110 | Argentina | 3.0 |
| 111 | Sierra Leone | 3.0 |
| 112 | Tanzania | 3.0 |
| 113 | Kazakhstan | 3.0 |
| 114 | Serbia | 2.9 |
| 115 | Nepal | 2.9 |
| 116 | Cameroon | 2.9 |
| 117 | Bangladesh | 2.9 |
| 118 | Egypt | 2.9 |
| 119 | Costa Rica | 2.8 |
| 120 | Lebanon | 2.8 |
| 121 | Romania | 2.8 |
| 122 | Brazil | 2.8 |
| 123 | Kyrgyz Republic | 2.7 |
| 124 | Russian Federation | 2.7 |
| 125 | Nigeria | 2.7 |
| 126 | Colombia | 2.7 |
| 127 | Venezuela | 2.6 |
| 128 | Chad | 2.6 |
| 129 | Madagascar | 2.6 |
| 130 | Mongolia | 2.6 |
| 131 | Yemen | 2.5 |
| 132 | Burkina Faso | 2.5 |
| 133 | Paraguay | 2.5 |
| 134 | Myanmar | 2.4 |
| 135 | Gabon | 2.4 |
| 136 | Haiti | 2.4 |
| 137 | Mauritania | 2.3 |
| 138 | Angola | 2.3 |
| 139 | Ukraine | 2.2 |
| 140 | Moldova | 2.1 |
| 141 | Mozambique | 2.1 |
| 142 | Libya | 2.1 |
| 143 | Guinea | 1.9 |
| 144 | Timor-leste | 1.9 |
Take to the road in East Timor
Video: TimorAdventures.com.au
Search for and buy your next car on driving.co.uk
