In pictures: Where the UAE ranks in the world

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  World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Index 2013 — UAE ranks 19th out of 148 countries, up from 24th last year and ahead of France, China and Korea. Sarah Dea/The National

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  HRG top 50 most expensive cities 2013 — Dubai is 17th, down from 16 last year, and Abu Dhabi is 36th, down from 28 last year. The top three most expensive cities in the world are Moscow, Lagos and New York. Sarah Dea / The National

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  CBRE Global retail brand survey 2011 — The UAE is in second place with 53.1 per cent of brands available. We rank behind the United Kingdom but ahead of France, China and the United States. Silvia Razgova / The National

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  Frank Knight global report — In October Dubai was ranked in first place for standard of living, particularly education, and ahead of London and New York. The international estate agents also note that Dubai currently has the fastest-rising property prices in the world, at 21.7 per cent in the 12 months to June, ahead of Hong Kong and Taiwan. Jaime Puebla / The National

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  International Diabetes Foundation diabetes atlas 2011 — The UAE is ranked 10th for the incidence of diabetes (19 per cent) among residents aged 20 to 79. Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Qatar all have worse rates. Satish Kumar / The National

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  HSBC 2013 Expat Explorer Survey — UAE is ranked the ninth best country in the world for foreigners, factoring in financial incentives, quality of life and ease of raising children, putting the nation ahead of Hong Kong, the US and New Zealand. Ravindranath K / The National

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  World Bank Gross Domestic Product 2012 — Ranked 16th out of 180, above the European Union and Saudi Arabia. Pawan Singh / The National

Following the latest meeting of the Federal National Council, a committee is to be set up to investigate the nation’s standing in a wide variety of international rankings, and to examine reports that are both critical and praiseworthy.

Dozens of such reports are published every year, covering almost every imaginable topic — from finance to Ferraris.

Here we publish a selection, most of which place the UAE in a much higher position than its population ranking of 95th in the world.

As an FNC report notes: “The UAE has improved tremendously in the past five years according to these reports and has beaten out many countries.”