List of freedom indices

There are several non-governmental organizations that publish and maintain assessments of the state of freedom in the world, according to their own various definitions of the term, and rank countries as being free, partly free, or unfree using various measures of freedom, including political rights, economic rights, and civil liberties.

Listings by country

UK Based

• The Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index is an assessment of countries' democracy. Countries are rated to be either Full Democracies, Flawed Democracies, Hybrid Regimes, or Authoritarian. Full democracies, flawed democracies, and hybrid regimes are considered to be democracies , and the authoritarian nations are considered to be dictatorial. The Economist bases its ratings based on: civil liberties, conduct of elections, media freedom, participation, public opinion, functioning government, corruption, and stability.

US Based

• Freedom in the World published by Freedom House (which receives about 66% of its budget from the U.S. government,) ranks countries by political rights and civil liberties that are derived in large measure from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Countries are assessed as free, partly free, or unfree.
• The Index of Economic Freedom is an annual report published by The Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation. Countries are assessed as free, mostly free, moderately free, mostly unfree, and repressed.
• The Polity data series is a widely used data series in political science research. It contains coded annual information on regime authority characteristics and transitions for all independent states with greater than 500,000 total population and covers the years 1800–2006. Polity's conclusions about a state's level of democracy are based on an evaluation of that state's elections for competitiveness, openness and level of participation.

The Free Existence

• The Free Existence Drug Freedom Index is a quantitative index which rates the legality of drug usage, possession, and sales in most countries across the world. As it is the first attempt to quantify worldwide drug laws of its kind, there is presently some reliance on anecdotal evidence in lieu of direct legal analysis due to lack of access to primary sources (i.e., the actual written laws of some nations).
• The Free Existence Gun Rights Index is a quantitative index which rates the legality of gun ownership and use in most countries across the world. As it is the first attempt to quantify worldwide gun laws of its kind, there is presently some reliance on anecdotal evidence and news reports in lieu of direct legal analysis due to lack of access to primary sources (i.e., the actual written laws of some nations).
• The Free Existence Freedom Meta-Index is a meta-index which incorporates several other freedom indices (e.g., Index of Economic Freedom, Freedom in the World, Corruption Perceptions Index, etc.) into a single ranking web interface. Users can weight the liberties they value most, and these preferences are used to prioritize or exclude individual freedom index values and produce a final score reflecting the most free country given the user's set of values. This weight-value multiplication approach can be used to selectively rank only values from a specific subset of freedom indices, or to enable a user to identify the country or countries that best match his or her philosophical preferences.

France based

• Worldwide Press Freedom Index is published by Reporters Without Borders. Countries are assessed as having a good situation, a satisfactory situation, noticeable problems, a difficult situation, or a very serious situation.

Canada based

• The Economic Freedom of the World Index is a report published by the Fraser Institute. It is a numeric index and its results are not (yet) included in the table below.

Current assessments

Here is a table of the assessments in each index for most countries of the world. For exact rankings rather than assessments, refer to the individual index articles.

Country ratings from Freedom House's Freedom in the World 2011 survey, concerning the state of world freedom in 2010.   Free (87)   Partly Free (60)   Not Free (47)

The 2012 Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom.

2010 press freedom rankings according to Reporters Without Borders

The Economist Intelligence Unit's 2010 Democracy Index map: lighter colours represent more democracy

Index	Scale
Freedom in the World	free																				partly free																				not free
Index of Economic Freedom	free												mostly free												moderately free												mostly not free												repressed
Press Freedom Index	good situation												satisfactory situation												noticeable problems												difficult situation												very serious situation
Democracy Index	full democracy															flawed democracy															hybrid regime															authoritarian

A star next to the Freedom House ranking means that the country is rated as a liberal democracy.

List by country

Country	Freedom House 2011	Economic Freedom 2011	Press Freedom 2011	Democracy Index 2011
Afghanistan	5 not free	n/a	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Albania	3 partly free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Algeria	5 not free	4 mostly not free	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Andorra	1 free	n/a	n/a	n/a
Angola	5 not free	5 repressed	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Antigua and Barbuda	1 free	n/a	n/a	n/a
Argentina	3 partly free	5 repressed	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Armenia	3 partly free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Australia	1 free	1 free	2 satisfactory situation	1 full democracy
Austria	1 free	2 mostly free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Azerbaijan	5 not free	4 mostly not free	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Bahamas	1 free	3 moderately free	n/a	n/a
Bahrain	5 not free	2 mostly free	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Bangladesh	5 not free	4 mostly not free	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Barbados	1 free	3 moderately free	n/a	n/a
Belarus	5 not free	5 repressed	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Belgium	1 free	3 moderately free	2 satisfactory situation	1 full democracy
Belize	1 free	3 moderately free	n/a	n/a
Benin	1 free	4 mostly not free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Bhutan	3 partly free	4 mostly not free	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Bolivia	3 partly free	4 mostly not free	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Bosnia and Herzegovina	3 partly free	4 mostly not free	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Botswana	1 free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Brazil	1 free	4 mostly not free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Brunei	5 not free	n/a	4 difficult situation	n/a
Bulgaria	1 free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Burkina Faso	5 not free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian
Burundi	5 not free	5 repressed	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Cambodia	5 not free	4 mostly not free	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Cameroon	5 not free	4 mostly not free	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian
Canada	1 free	2 mostly free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Cape Verde	1 free	3 moderately free	1 good situation	2 flawed democracy
Central African Republic	5 not free	4 mostly not free	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian
Chad	5 not free	5 repressed	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian
Chile	1 free	2 mostly free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
People's Republic of China	5 not free	4 mostly not free	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Colombia	3 partly free	3 moderately free	4 difficult situation	2 flawed democracy
Comoros	5 not free	5 repressed	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian
Costa Rica	1 free	3 moderately free	2 satisfactory situation	1 full democracy
Côte d'Ivoire	5 not free	4 mostly not free	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Republic of the Congo	5 not free	5 repressed	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian
Democratic Republic of the Congo	5 not free	5 repressed	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Croatia	1 free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Cuba	5 not free	5 repressed	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Cyprus	1 free	2 mostly free	1 good situation	2 flawed democracy
Czech Republic	1 free	3 moderately free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Denmark	1 free	2 mostly free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Djibouti	5 not free	4 mostly not free	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Dominica	1 free	3 moderately free	n/a	n/a
Dominican Republic	1 free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
East Timor	3 partly free	5 repressed	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Ecuador	3 partly free	5 repressed	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Egypt	5 not free	4 mostly not free	5 very serious situation	5 hybrid regime
El Salvador	1 free	3 moderately free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Equatorial Guinea	5 not free	5 repressed	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Eritrea	5 not free	5 repressed	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Estonia	1 free	2 mostly free	1 good situation	2 flawed democracy
Ethiopia	5 not free	4 mostly not free	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Fiji	5 not free	4 mostly not free	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Finland	1 free	2 mostly free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
France	1 free	3 moderately free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Gabon	5 not free	4 mostly not free	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian
Gambia	5 not free	4 mostly not free	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Georgia	3 partly free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Germany	1 free	2 mostly free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Ghana	1 free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Greece	1 free	4 mostly not free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Greenland	1 free	n/a	n/a	n/a
Grenada	1 free	n/a	2 satisfactory situation	n/a
Guatemala	3 partly free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	2 hybrid regime
Guinea	5 not free	4 mostly not free	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian
Guinea-Bissau	5 not free	4 mostly not free	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian
Guyana	1 free	4 mostly not free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Haiti	3 partly free	4 mostly not free	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Honduras	5 not free	4 mostly not free	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Hong Kong	3 partly free	1 free	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Hungary	1 free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Iceland	1 free	2 mostly free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
India	3 partly free	4 mostly not free	4 difficult situation	2 flawed democracy
Indonesia	3 partly free	4 mostly not free	4 difficult situation	2 flawed democracy
Iran	5 not free	5 repressed	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Iraq	5 not free	n/a	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Ireland	1 free	2 mostly free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Israel	1 free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Italy	1 free	4 mostly not free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Jamaica	1 free	3 moderately free	1 good situation	2 flawed democracy
Japan	1 free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	1 full democracy
Jordan	5 not free	3 moderately free	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Kazakhstan	5 not free	3 moderately free	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Kenya	3 partly free	4 mostly not free	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Kiribati	3 partly free	5 repressed	n/a	n/a
Korea, North	5 not free	5 repressed	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Korea, South	1 free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	1 full democracy
Kosovo	3 partly free	n/a	3 noticeable problems	n/a
Kuwait	5 not free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian
Kyrgyzstan	3 partly free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Laos	5 not free	4 mostly not free	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Latvia	1 free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Lebanon	3 partly free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Lesotho	3 partly free	5 repressed	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Liberia	3 partly free	5 repressed	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Libya	5 not free	5 repressed	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Liechtenstein	1 free	n/a	n/a	n/a
Lithuania	1 free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Luxembourg	1 free	2 mostly free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Macau	3 partly free	2 mostly free	n/a	n/a
Macedonia	1 free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Madagascar	5 not free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian
Malawi	5 not free	4 mostly not free	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Malaysia	3 partly free	3 moderately free	4 difficult situation	2 flawed democracy
Maldives	3 partly free	5 repressed	3 noticeable problems	n/a
Mali	1 free	4 mostly not free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Malta	1 free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	1 full democracy
Marshall Islands	1 free	n/a	n/a	n/a
Mauritania	3 partly free	4 mostly not free	noticeable problems	5 hybrid regime
Mauritius	1 free	2 mostly free	3 noticeable problems	1 full democracy
Myanmar (Burma)	5 not free	5 repressed	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Mexico	3 partly free	3 moderately free	4 difficult situation	2 flawed democracy
Federated States of Micronesia	1 free	4 mostly not free	n/a	n/a
Moldova	1 free	4 mostly not free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Monaco	1 free	n/a	n/a	n/a
Mongolia	1 free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Montenegro	1 free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Morocco	5 not free	3 moderately free	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Mozambique	3 partly free	4 mostly not free	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Namibia	1 free	3 moderately free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Nauru	1 free	n/a	n/a	n/a
Nepal	3 partly free	4 mostly not free	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Netherlands	1 free	2 mostly free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
New Zealand	1 free	1 free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Nicaragua	3 partly free	4 mostly not free	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Niger	3 partly free	4 mostly not free	2 satisfactory situation	5 hybrid regime
Nigeria	5 not free	4 mostly not free	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Norway	1 free	3 moderately free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Oman	5 not free	3 moderately free	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Pakistan	5 not free	4 mostly not free	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Palau	1 free	n/a	n/a	n/a
Palestinian National Authority	5 not free	n/a	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Panama	1 free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Papua New Guinea	1 free	4 mostly not free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Paraguay	1 free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Peru	1 free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Philippines	3 partly free	4 mostly not free	4 difficult situation	2 flawed democracy
Poland	1 free	3 moderately free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Portugal	1 free	3 moderately free	2 satisfactory situation	1 flawed democracy
Puerto Rico	1 free	n/a	n/a	n/a
Qatar	5 not free	2 mostly free	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian
Romania	1 free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Russia	5 not free	4 mostly not free	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Rwanda	5 not free	3 moderately free	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Saint Kitts and Nevis	1 free	n/a	n/a	n/a
Saint Lucia	1 free	2 mostly free	n/a	n/a
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	1 free	3 moderately free	n/a	n/a
Samoa	1 free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	n/a
San Marino	1 free	n/a	n/a	n/a
São Tomé and Príncipe	3 partly free	4 mostly not free	n/a	n/a
Saudi Arabia	5 not free	3 moderately free	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Senegal	3 partly free	4 mostly not free	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Serbia	1 free	4 mostly not free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Seychelles	3 partly free	4 mostly not free	3 noticeable problems	n/a
Sierra Leone	3 partly free	5 repressed	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Singapore	3 partly free	1 free	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Slovakia	1 free	3 moderately free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Slovenia	1 free	3 moderately free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Solomon Islands	3 partly free	5 repressed	n/a	n/a
Somalia	5 not free	n/a	5 very serious situation	n/a
Somaliland	3 partly free	n/a	n/a	n/a
South Africa	1 free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
South Sudan	1 free	n/a	3 noticeable problems	n/a
Spain	1 free	3 moderately free	2 satisfactory situation	1 full democracy
Sri Lanka	5 not free	4 mostly not free	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Sudan	5 not free	n/a	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Suriname	1 free	4 mostly not free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Swaziland	5 not free	4 mostly not free	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Sweden	1 free	2 mostly free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Switzerland	1 free	1 free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Syria	5 not free	4 mostly not free	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Republic of China (Taiwan)	1 free	2 mostly free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Tajikistan	5 not free	4 mostly not free	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Tanzania	3 partly free	4 mostly not free	2 satisfactory situation	4 hybrid regime
Thailand	3 partly free	3 moderately free	4 difficult situation	2 flawed democracy
Togo	5 not free	5 repressed	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian
Tonga	3 partly free	4 mostly not free	3 noticeable problems	n/a
Trinidad and Tobago	1 free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Tunisia	5 not free	4 mostly not free	4 difficult situation	5 hybrid regime
Turkey	3 partly free	3 moderately free	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Turkmenistan	5 not free	5 repressed	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Tuvalu	1 free	n/a	n/a	n/a
Uganda	3 partly free	3 moderately free	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Ukraine	5 not free	5 repressed	4 difficult situation	2 hybrid regime
United Arab Emirates	5 not free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian
United Kingdom	1 free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	1 full democracy
United States	1 free	2 mostly free	3 noticeable problems	1 full democracy
Uruguay	1 free	3 moderately free	2 satisfactory situation	1 full democracy
Uzbekistan	5 not free	5 repressed	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Vanuatu	1 free	4 mostly not free	n/a	n/a
Venezuela	5 not free	5 repressed	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Vietnam	5 not free	4 mostly not free	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Yemen	5 not free	4 mostly not free	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Zambia	1 free	4 mostly not free	3 noticeable problems	4 flawed democracy
Zimbabwe	5 not free	5 repressed	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian

See also

• Areopagitica: A speech of Mr John Milton for the liberty of unlicensed printing to the Parliament of England
• Freedom House
• Freedom in the World
• Media transparency
• Transparency (humanities)
• Transparency (market)
• United Nations Parliamentary Assembly

External links

• The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Index of Democracy 2008
• Freedom House's Freedom in the World 2008
• Freedom House's Map of Free Press
• The Wall Street Journal's Index of Economic Freedom
• The Fraser Institute's Economic Freedom of the World
• Internationale Medienhilfe (IMH) - International organization for press freedom

This article incorporates information from the German Wikipedia.

• Reporters Without Borders' Worldwide Press Freedom Index - 2002 / 2003 / 2004 / 2005 / 2006 / 2007 / 2008
• The Free Existence Drug Freedom Index 2009
• The Free Existence Gun Rights Index 2009
• The Free Existence Freedom Index