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.

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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

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