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 regimes. 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

• The Economic Freedom of the World Report, published by the Cato Institute and the (Canadian) Fraser Institute in conjunction with other liberal organizations around the world, measures the consistency of the institutions and policies of various countries with voluntary exchange and the other dimensions of economic freedom.
• 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 unfree												repressed
Press Freedom Index	good situation												satisfactory situation												noticeable problems												difficult situation												very serious situation
Democracy Index	full democracy															flawed democracy															hybrid regime															authoritarian regime

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 regime
Albania	3 partly free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Algeria	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian regime
Andorra	1 free	n/a	1 good situation	n/a
Angola	5 not free	5 repressed	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian regime
Argentina	1 free	5 repressed	2 satisfactory situation	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 unfree	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian regime
Bahamas	1 free	3 moderately free	2 satisfactory situation	n/a
Bahrain	5 not free	2 mostly free	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian regime
Bangladesh	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Barbados	1 free	3 moderately free	2 satisfactory situation	n/a
Belarus	5 not free	5 repressed	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian regime
Belgium	1 free	3 moderately free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Belize	1 free	3 moderately free	2 satisfactory situation	n/a
Benin	1 free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Bhutan	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Bolivia	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Bosnia and Herzegovina	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Botswana	1 free	3 moderately free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Brazil	1 free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Brunei	5 not free	3 moderately free	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian regime
Bulgaria	1 free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Burkina Faso	3 partly free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian regime
Burundi	3 partly free	5 repressed	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Cambodia	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Cameroon	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian regime
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 unfree	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian regime
Chad	5 not free	5 repressed	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian regime
Chile	1 free	2 mostly free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
People's Republic of China	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian regime
Colombia	3 partly free	3 moderately free	4 difficult situation	2 flawed democracy
Comoros	3 partly free	5 repressed	2 satisfactory situation	5 authoritarian regime
Costa Rica	1 free	3 moderately free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Côte d'Ivoire	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian regime
Republic of the Congo	5 not free	5 repressed	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian regime
Democratic Republic of the Congo	5 not free	5 repressed	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian regime
Croatia	1 free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Cuba	5 not free	5 repressed	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian regime
Cyprus	1 free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Czech Republic	1 free	3 moderately free	2 satisfactory situation	1 full democracy
Denmark	1 free	2 mostly free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Djibouti	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian regime
Dominica	1 free	3 moderately free	2 satisfactory situation	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	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	5 hybrid regime
El Salvador	1 free	3 moderately free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Equatorial Guinea	5 not free	5 repressed	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian regime
Eritrea	5 not free	5 repressed	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian regime
Estonia	1 free	2 mostly free	1 good situation	2 flawed democracy
Ethiopia	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian regime
Fiji	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian regime
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 unfree	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian regime
Gambia	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian regime
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	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Greece	1 free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Grenada	1 free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	n/a
Guatemala	3 partly free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	2 hybrid regime
Guinea	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian regime
Guinea-Bissau	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian regime
Guyana	1 free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Haiti	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	2 satisfactory situation	4 hybrid regime
Honduras	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Hong Kong	3 partly free	1 free	2 satisfactory situation	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	1 free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Indonesia	1 free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	2 flawed democracy
Iran	5 not free	5 repressed	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian regime
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 unfree	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	3 partly free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian regime
Kazakhstan	5 not free	3 moderately free	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian regime
Kenya	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Kiribati	1 free	5 repressed	n/a	n/a
Korea, North	5 not free	5 repressed	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian regime
Korea, South	1 free	3 moderately free	2 satisfactory situation	1 full democracy
Kosovo	3 partly free	n/a	3 noticeable problems	n/a
Kuwait	3 partly free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian regime
Kyrgyzstan	3 partly free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Laos	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian regime
Latvia	1 free	3 moderately free	2 satisfactory situation	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 regime
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
Macedonia	1 free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Madagascar	3 partly free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian regime
Malawi	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	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 unfree	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Malta	1 free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	1 full democracy
Mauritania	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	3 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 regime
Mexico	2 mostly free	3 moderately free	4 difficult situation	2 flawed democracy
Federated States of Micronesia	1 free	4 mostly unfree	n/a	n/a
Moldova	1 free	4 mostly unfree	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 regime
Mozambique	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Namibia	1 free	3 moderately free	1 good situation	2 flawed democracy
Nauru	1 free	n/a	n/a	n/a
Nepal	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	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 unfree	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Niger	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	2 satisfactory situation	5 hybrid regime
Nigeria	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian regime
Northern Cyprus	1 free	n/a	3 noticeable problems	n/a
Norway	1 free	3 moderately free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Oman	3 partly free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian regime
Pakistan	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Palestinian National Authority	3 partly 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 unfree	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 unfree	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	2 flawed democracy
Puerto Rico	1 free	n/a	2 satisfactory situation	n/a
Qatar	3 partly free	2 mostly free	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian regime
Romania	1 free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Russia	5 not free	5 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian regime
Rwanda	5 not free	3 moderately free	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian regime
Saint Lucia	1 free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	n/a
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	1 free	3 moderately free	2 satisfactory situation	n/a
Samoa	1 free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	n/a
São Tomé and Príncipe	1 free	4 mostly unfree	2 satisfactory situation	n/a
Saudi Arabia	5 not free	3 moderately free	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian regime
Senegal	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Serbia	1 free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Seychelles	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	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	3 noticeable problems	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	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
South Sudan	5 not free	n/a	3 noticeable problems	n/a
Spain	1 free	3 moderately free	2 satisfactory situation	1 full democracy
Sri Lanka	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	5 very serious situation	4 hybrid regime
Sudan	5 not free	n/a	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian regime
Suriname	1 free	4 mostly unfree	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Swaziland	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian regime
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 unfree	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian regime
Taiwan	1 free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Tajikistan	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian regime
Tanzania	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	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 regime
Tonga	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	n/a
Trinidad and Tobago	1 free	3 moderately free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Tunisia	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	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 regime
Uganda	3 partly free	3 moderately free	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Ukraine	3 partly free	5 repressed	4 difficult situation	2 hybrid regime
United Arab Emirates	3 partly free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian regime
United Kingdom	1 free	2 mostly free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
United States	1 free	2 mostly free	1 good situation	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 regime
Vanuatu	1 free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	n/a
Venezuela	3 partly free	5 repressed	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Vietnam	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian regime
Yemen	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian regime
Zambia	1 free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	4 flawed democracy
Zimbabwe	5 not free	5 repressed	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian regime

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

References

• Democracy index 2010
• 2007 Freedom House Financial Statement
• FreeExistence Index of Worldwide Drug Freedom (2011)
• FreeExistence Index of Worldwide Gun Rights (2011)
• Waldman, Katy (April 21, 2011). "Let X Units of Freedom Ring". Slate.
• Freedom Index FreeExistence.Org
• Press Freedom Index 2011-2012 Reporters Without Borders
• Freedom of the Press Worldwide in 2012 Reporters Without Borders

External links

• The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Index of Democracy 2011
• Freedom House's Freedom in the World 2012
• 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 Template:De
• Reporters Without Borders' Worldwide Press Freedom Index - 2002 / 2003 / 2004 / 2005 / 2006 / 2007 / 2011-12
• The Free Existence Drug Freedom Index 2009
• The Free Existence Gun Rights Index 2009
• The Free Existence Freedom Index