Index of Economic Freedom

This article is about the index published by the Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation. For other indices, see Indices of economic freedom.

The 2016 Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom overall heatmap

The Index of Economic Freedom is an annual index and ranking created by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal in 1995 to measure the degree of economic freedom in the world's nations. The creators of the index took an approach similar to Adam Smith's in The Wealth of Nations, that "basic institutions that protect the liberty of individuals to pursue their own economic interests result in greater prosperity for the larger society".

2016

Key: ██ Free (80-100), ██ Mostly Free (70.0-79.9), ██ Moderately Free (60.0-69.9), ██ Mostly Unfree (50.0-59.9), ██ Repressed (0-49.9).

	2016			2015			2014			2013
Country	Rank	Score	Change in Yearly Score from 2015	Rank	Score	Change in Yearly Score from 2014	Rank	Score	Change in Yearly Score from 2013	Rank	Score	Change in Yearly Score from 2012
Hong Kong	1	88.6	-1.0	1	89.6	-0.5	1	90.1	0.8	1	89.3	-0.6
Singapore	2	87.8	-1.6	2	89.4	0	2	89.4	1.4	2	88	0.5
New Zealand	3	81.6	-0.5	3	82.1	0.9	5	81.2	-0.2	4	81.4	-0.7
Switzerland	4	81	0.5	5	80.5	-1.1	4	81.6	0.6	5	81	-0.1
Australia	5	80.3	-1.1	4	81.4	-0.6	3	82	-0.6	3	82.6	-0.5
Canada	6	78	-1.1	6	79.1	-1.1	6	80.2	0.8	6	79.4	-0.5
Chile	7	77.7	-0.8	7	78.5	-0.2	7	78.7	-0.3	7	79	0.7
Ireland	8	77.3	0.7	9	76.6	0.4	9	76.2	0.5	11	75.7	-1.2
Estonia	9	77.2	0.4	8	76.8	0.9	11	75.9	0.6	13	75.3	2.1
United Kingdom	10	76.4	0.6	13	75.8	0.9	14	74.9	0.1	14	74.8	0.7
United States	11	75.4	-0.8	12	76.2	0.7	12	75.5	-0.5	10	76	-0.3
Denmark	12	75.3	-1.0	11	76.3	0.2	10	76.1	0	9	76.1	-0.1
Lithuania	13	75.2	0.5	15	74.7	1.7	21	73	0.9	22	72.1	0.6
Taiwan	14	74.7	-0.4	14	75.1	1.2	17	73.9	1.2	20	72.7	0.8
Mauritius	15	74.7	-1.7	10	76.4	-0.1	8	76.5	-0.4	8	76.9	-0.1
Germany	16	73.8	0.4	18	73.4	0.6	19	72.8	1.8
Netherlands	17	73.7	-0.5	15	74.2	0.7	17	73.5	0.2
Bahrain	18	73.4	-1.7	13	75.1	-0.4	12	75.5	0.3
Finland	19	73.4	0	19	73.4	-0.6	16	74	1.7
Japan	20	73.3	0.9	25	72.4	0.6	24	71.8	0.2
Luxembourg	21	73.2	-1	16	74.2	0	15	74.2	-0.3
Georgia	22	73	0.4	22	72.6	0.4	21	72.2	2.8
Sweden	23	72.7	-0.4	20	73.1	0.2	18	72.9	1.2
Czech Republic	24	72.5	0.3	26	72.2	1.3	29	70.9	1
United Arab Emirates	25	72.4	1	28	71.4	0.3	28	71.1	1.8
Iceland	26	72	-0.4	23	72.4	0.3	23	72.1	1.2
Norway	27	71.8	0.9	32	70.9	0.4	31	70.5	1.7
Colombia	28	71.7	1	34	70.7	1.1	37	69.6	1.6
South Korea	29	71.5	0.3	31	71.2	0.9	34	70.3	0.4
Austria	30	71.2	-1.2	24	72.4	0.6	25	71.8	1.5
Malaysia	31	70.8	1.2	37	69.6	3.5	56	66.1	-0.3
Qatar	32	70.8	-0.4	30	71.2	-0.1	27	71.3	0
Israel	33	70.5	2.1	44	68.4	1.5	51	66.9	-0.9
Macau	34	70.3	-1	29	71.3	-0.4	26	71.7	-0.1
Saint Lucia	35	70.2	-0.5	33	70.7	0.3	32	70.4	-0.9
Botswana	36	69.8	-2.2	27	72	1.4	30	70.6	1
Latvia	37	69.7	1	42	68.7	2.2	55	66.5	1.3
Jordan	38	69.3	0.1	39	69.2	-1.2	33	70.4	0.5
Brunei	39	68.9	-0.1	40	69	-
Belgium	40	68.8	-1.1	35	69.9	0.7	40	69.2	0.2
Bahamas	41	68.7	-1.1	36	69.8	-0.3	35	70.1	2.1
Poland	42	68.6	1.6	50	67	1	57	66	1.8
Uruguay	43	68.6	-0.7	38	69.3	-0.4	36	69.7	-0.2
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	44	68	1	52	67	0.3	54	66.7	0.2
Cyprus	45	67.9	0.3	46	67.6	-1.4	41	69	-2.8
Barbados	46	67.9	-0.4	45	68.3	-1	39	69.3	0.3
Peru	47	67.7	0.3	47	67.4	-0.8	44	68.2	-0.5
Jamaica	48	67.7	1	56	66.7	-0.1	52	66.8	1.7
Spain	49	67.6	0.4	49	67.2	-0.8	46	68	-1.1
Slovakia	50	67.2	0.8	57	66.4	-2.3	42	68.7	1.7
Costa Rica	51	67.2	0.3	53	66.9	-0.1	49	67	-1
Armenia	52	67.1	-1.8	41	68.9	-0.5	38	69.4	0.6
North Macedonia	53	67.1	-1.5	43	68.6	0.4	43	68.2	-0.3
Hungary	54	66.8	-0.2	51	67	-0.3	48	67.3	0.2
Bulgaria	55	66.8	1.1	61	65.7	0.7	60	65	0.3
Oman	56	66.7	-0.7	48	67.4	-0.7	45	68.1	0.2
Romania	57	66.6	1.1	62	65.5	0.4	59	65.1	0.7
Malta	58	66.5	0.1	58	66.4	-1.1	47	67.5	0.5
Mexico	59	66.4	-0.4	55	66.8	-0.2	50	67	1.7
Cape Verde	60	66.4	0.3	60	66.1	2.4	65	63.7	0.2
Dominica	61	66.1	0.9	63	65.2	1.3	64	63.9	2.3
El Salvador	62	65.7	-0.5	59	66.2	-0.5	53	66.7	-2
Albania	63	65.7	-1.2	54	66.9	1.7	58	65.2	0.1
Portugal	64	65.3	1.8	69	63.5	0.4	67	63.1	0.1
Rwanda	65	64.8	0.1	65	64.7	0.6	63	64.1	-0.8
Montenegro	66	64.7	1.1	68	63.6	1	70	62.6	0.1
Trinidad and Tobago	67	64.1	1.4	73	62.7	0.4	72	62.3	-2.1
Panama	68	64.1	0.7	71	63.4	0.9	71	62.5	-2.7
Kazakhstan	69	63.3	-0.4	67	63.7	0.7	68	63	-0.6
Turkey	70	63.2	-1.7	64	64.9	2	69	62.9	0.4
Ghana	71	63	-1.2	66	64.2	2.9	77	61.3	0.6
South Africa	72	62.6	0.1	75	62.5	0.7	74	61.8	-0.9
France	73	62.5	-1	70	63.5	-0.6	62	64.1	0.9
Kuwait	74	62.5	0.2	76	62.3	-0.8	66	63.1	0.6
Thailand	75	62.4	-0.9	72	63.3	-0.8	61	64.1	-0.8
Philippines	76	62.2	2.1	89	60.1	1.9	97	58.2	1.1
Saudi Arabia	77	62.1	-0.1	77	62.2	1.6	82	60.6	-1.9
Samoa	78	61.9	0.8	84	61.1	4	106	57.1	-3.4
Madagascar	79	61.7	0	79	61.7	-0.3	73	62	-0.4
Italy	80	61.7	0.8	86	60.9	0.3	83	60.6	1.8
Croatia	81	61.5	1.1	87	60.4	-0.9	78	61.3	0.4
Kyrgyzstan	82	61.3	0.2	85	61.1	1.5	89	59.6	-0.6
Paraguay	83	61.1	-0.9	78	62	0.9	80	61.1	-0.7
Vanuatu	84	61.1	1.6	93	59.5	2.9	109	56.6	0
Azerbaijan	85	61	-0.3	81	61.3	1.6	88	59.7	0.8
Dominican Republic	86	61	-0.3	80	61.3	1.6	87	59.7	-0.5
Guatemala	87	60.4	-0.8	83	61.2	1.2	85	60	-0.9
Slovenia	88	60.3	-2.4	74	62.7	1	76	61.7	-1.2
Morocco	89	60.1	1.8	103	58.3	-1.3	90	59.6	-0.6
Serbia	90	60	0.6	95	59.4	0.8	94	58.6	0.6
Eswatini	91	59.9	-1.3	82	61.2	4	104	57.2	0
Uganda	92	59.7	-0.2	91	59.9	-1.2	79	61.1	-0.8
Namibia	93	59.6	0.2	94	59.4	-0.9	84	60.3	-1.6
Lebanon	94	59.3	-0.1	96	59.4	-0.1	91	59.5	-0.6
Tonga	95	59.3	1.1	104	58.2	2.2	112	56	-1
Mongolia	96	59.2	0.3	97	58.9	-2.8	75	61.7	0.2
Bosnia and Herzegovina	97	59	0.6	101	58.4	1.1	103	57.3	0
Fiji	98	59	0.3	99	58.7	1.5	105	57.2	-0.1
Benin	99	58.8	1.7	113	57.1	-0.5	101	57.6	1.9
Zambia	100	58.7	-1.7	88	60.4	1.7	93	58.7	0.4
Sri Lanka	101	58.6	-1.4	90	60	-0.7	81	60.7	2.4
Burkina Faso	102	58.6	-0.3	98	58.9	-1	86	59.9	-0.7
Ivory Coast	103	58.5	0.8	107	57.7	3.6	126	54.1	-0.2
Gabon	104	58.3	0.5	105	57.8	0	99	57.8	1.4
Indonesia	105	58.1	-0.4	100	58.5	1.6	108	56.9	0.5
Senegal	106	57.8	2.4	125	55.4	-0.1	116	55.5	0.1
Tunisia	107	57.7	0.4	109	57.3	0.3	107	57	-1.6
Nicaragua	108	57.6	-0.8	102	58.4	1.8	110	56.6	-1.3
Tanzania	109	57.5	-0.3	106	57.8	-0.1	98	57.9	0.9
Cambodia	110	57.5	0.1	108	57.4	-1.1	95	58.5	0.9
Moldova	111	57.5	0.2	110	57.3	1.8	115	55.5	1.1
Djibouti	112	57.5	1.6	118	55.9	2	127	53.9	0
Gambia	113	57.5	-2	92	59.5	0.7	92	58.8	0
Seychelles	114	57.5	1.3	117	56.2	1.3	124	54.9	1.9
Bhutan	115	57.4	0.7	116	56.7	1.7	122	55	-1.6
Honduras	116	57.4	0.3	112	57.1	-1.3	96	58.4	-0.4
Belize	117	56.8	0.1	115	56.7	-0.6	102	57.3	-4.6
Brazil	118	56.6	-0.3	114	56.9	-0.8	100	57.7	-0.2
Mali	119	56.4	0.9	122	55.5	-0.9	111	56.4	0.6
Nigeria	120	55.6	1.3	129	54.3	-0.8	120	55.1	-1.2
Pakistan	121	55.6	0.4	126	55.2	0.1	121	55.1	0.4
Kenya	122	55.6	-1.5	111	57.1	1.2	114	55.9	-1.6
Guyana	123	55.5	-0.2	121	55.7	1.9	129	53.8	2.5
Egypt	124	55.2	2.3	135	52.9	-1.9	125	54.8	-3.1
Mozambique	125	54.8	-0.2	128	55	0	123	55	-2.1
Malawi	126	54.8	-0.6	124	55.4	0.1	118	55.3	-1.1
Niger	127	54.6	-0.5	127	55.1	1.2	128	53.9	-0.4
India	128	54.6	-1.1	120	55.7	0.5	119	55.2	0.6
Suriname	129	54.2	0	130	54.2	2.2	135	52	-0.6
Greece	130	54	-1.7	119	55.7	0.3	117	55.4	0
Bangladesh	131	53.9	-0.2	131	54.1	1.5	132	52.6	-0.6
Burundi	132	53.7	2.3	141	51.4	2.4	148	49	0.9
Yemen	133	53.7	-1.8	123	55.5	-0.4	113	55.9	0.6
Maldives	134	53.4	2.4	145	51	2	149	49	-0.2
Mauritania	135	53.3	0.1	134	53.2	0.9	134	52.3	-0.7
São Tomé and Príncipe	136	53.3	4.5	157	48.8	0.8	153	48	-2.2
Papua New Guinea	137	53.1	-0.8	132	53.9	0.3	130	53.6	-0.2
Togo	138	53	3.1	152	49.9	1.1	150	48.8	0.5
China	139	52.7	0.2	137	52.5	0.6	136	51.9	0.7
Tajikistan	140	52.7	0.7	139	52	-1.4	131	53.4	0
Liberia	141	52.7	0.3	138	52.4	3.1	147	49.3	0.7
Comoros	142	52.1	0.7	142	51.4	3.9	157	47.5	1.8
Russia	143	52.1	0.2	140	51.9	0.8	139	51.1	0.6
Guinea	144	52.1	-1.4	133	53.5	2.3	137	51.2	0.4
Guinea-Bissau	145	52	0.7	143	51.3	0.2	138	51.1	1
Cameroon	146	51.9	-0.7	136	52.6	0.3	133	52.3	0.5
Sierra Leone	147	51.7	1.2	148	50.5	2.2	151	48.3	-0.8
Vietnam	148	51.7	0.9	147	50.8	-0.2	140	51	-0.3
Ethiopia	149	51.5	1.5	151	50	0.6	146	49.4	-2.6
Laos	150	51.4	0.2	144	51.2	1.1	144	50.1	0.1
Haiti	151	51.3	2.4	156	48.9	0.8	152	48.1	-2.6
Nepal	152	51.3	1.2	149	50.1	-0.3	141	50.4	0.2
Belarus	153	49.8	-0.3	150	50.1	2.1	154	48	-1
Federated States of Micronesia	154	49.6	-0.2	153	49.8	-0.3	143	50.1	-0.6
Lesotho	155	49.6	0.1	154	49.5	1.6	155	47.9	1.3
Ecuador	156	49.2	1.2	159	48	1.1	159	46.9	-1.4
Algeria	157	48.9	-1.9	146	50.8	1.2	145	49.6	-1.4
Angola	158	47.9	0.2	160	47.7	0.4	158	47.3	0.6
Solomon Islands	159	47	0.8	165	46.2	1.2	165	45	-1.2
Uzbekistan	160	47	0.5	163	46.5	0.5	162	46	0.2
Myanmar	161	46.9	0.4	162	46.5	7.3	172	39.2	0.5
Ukraine	162	46.9	-2.4	155	49.3	3	161	46.3	0.2
Bolivia	163	46.8	-1.6	158	48.4	0.5	156	47.9	-2.3
Kiribati	164	46.4	0.1	164	46.3	0.4	163	45.9	-1
Chad	165	45.9	1.4	167	44.5	-0.7	164	45.2	0.4
Central African Republic	166	45.9	-0.8	161	46.7	-3.7	142	50.4	0.1
Timor-Leste	167	45.5	2.3	170	43.2	-0.5	166	43.7	0.4
Republic of the Congo	168	45	4.4	172	40.6	1	171	39.6	-1.5
Argentina	169	44.1	-0.5	166	44.6	-2.1	160	46.7	-1.3
Democratic Republic of the Congo	170	42.7	-1	169	43.7	0.2	167	43.5	-0.3
Iran	171	41.8	1.5	173	40.3	-2.9	168	43.2	0.9
Turkmenistan	172	41.4	-0.8	171	42.2	-0.4	169	42.6	-1.2
Equatorial Guinea	173	40.4	-4	168	44.4	2.1	170	42.3	-0.5
Eritrea	174	38.9	0.4	174	38.5	2.2	173	36.3	0.1
Zimbabwe	175	37.6	2.1	176	35.5	6.9	175	28.6	2.3
Venezuela	176	34.3	-2	175	36.3	0.2	174	36.1	-2
Cuba	177	29.6	0.9	177	28.7	0.2	176	28.5	0.2
North Korea	178	1.3	0.3	178	1	-0.5	177	1.5	0.5

2014

The 2014 Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom

Key: ██ Free (80-100), ██ Mostly Free (70.0-79.9), ██ Moderately Free (60.0-69.9), ██ Mostly Unfree (50.0-59.9), ██ Repressed (0-49.9).

Country	Rank	Score	Change
Hong Kong	1	90.1	0.8
Singapore	2	89.4	1.4
Australia	3	82.0	0.6
Switzerland	4	81.6	0.6
New Zealand	5	81.2	0.2
Canada	6	80.2	0.8
Chile	7	78.7	0.3
Mauritius	8	76.5	0.4
Ireland	9	76.2	0.5
Denmark	10	76.1	0.0
Estonia	11	75.9	0.6
United States	12	75.5	0.5
Bahrain	13	75.1	0.4
United Kingdom	14	74.9	0.1
Netherlands	15	74.2	0.7
Luxembourg	16	74.2	0.0
Taiwan	17	73.9	1.2
Germany	18	73.4	0.6
Finland	19	73.4	1.7
Sweden	20	73.1	0.2
Lithuania	21	73.0	0.9
Georgia	22	72.6	0.4
Iceland	23	72.4	0.3
Austria	24	72.4	0.6
Japan	25	72.4	0.6
Czech Republic	26	72.2	1.3
Botswana	27	72.0	1.4
United Arab Emirates	28	71.4	0.3
Macau	29	71.3	0.4
Qatar	30	71.2	0.1
South Korea	31	71.2	0.9
Norway	32	70.9	0.4
Saint Lucia	33	70.7	0.3
Colombia	34	70.7	1.1
Belgium	35	69.9	0.7
The Bahamas	36	69.8	0.3
Malaysia	37	69.6	3.5
Uruguay	38	69.3	0.4
Jordan	39	69.2	1.2
Brunei	40	69.0
Armenia	41	68.9	0.5
Latvia	42	68.7	2.2
Macedonia	43	68.6	0.4
Israel	44	68.4	1.5
Barbados	45	68.3	0.1
Cyprus	46	67.6	1.4
Peru	47	67.4	0.4
Oman	48	67.4	0.7
Spain	49	67.2	0.8
Poland	50	67.0	1.0
Hungary	51	67.0	0.3
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	52	67.0	0.3
Costa Rica	53	66.9	0.1
Albania	54	66.9	1.7
Mexico	55	66.8	0.2
Jamaica	56	66.7	0.1
Slovakia	57	66.4	2.3
Malta	58	66.4	1.1
El Salvador	59	66.2	0.5
Cape Verde	60	66.1	2.4
Bulgaria	61	65.7	0.7
Romania	62	65.5	0.4
Dominica	63	65.2	1.3
Turkey	64	64.9	2.0
Rwanda	65	64.7	0.6
Ghana	66	64.2	2.9
Kazakhstan	67	63.7	0.7
Montenegro	68	63.6	1.0
Portugal	69	63.5	0.4
France	70	63.5	0.6
Panama	71	63.4	0.9
Thailand	72	63.3	0.8
Trinidad and Tobago	73	62.7	0.4
Slovenia	74	62.7	0.1
South Africa	75	62.5	0.7
Kuwait	76	62.3	0.8
Saudi Arabia	77	62.2	1.6
Paraguay	78	62.0	0.9
Madagascar	79	61.7	0.3
Dominican Republic	80	61.3	1.6
Azerbaijan	81	61.3	1.6
Swaziland	82	61.2	4.0
Guatemala	83	61.2	1.2
Samoa	84	61.1	4.0
Kyrgyzstan	85	61.1	1.5
Italy	86	60.9	0.3
Croatia	87	60.4	0.9
Zambia	88	60.4	1.7
Philippines	89	60.1	1.9
Sri Lanka	90	60.0	0.7
Uganda	91	59.9	1.2
Gambia	92	59.5	0.7
Vanuatu	93	59.5	2.9
Namibia	94	59.4	0.9
Serbia	95	59.4	0.8
Lebanon	96	59.4	0.1
Mongolia	97	58.9	2.8
Burkina Faso	98	58.9	1.0
Fiji	99	58.7	1.5
Indonesia	100	58.5	1.6
Bosnia and Herzegovina	101	58.4	1.1
Nicaragua	102	58.4	1.8
Morocco	103	58.3	1.3
Tonga	104	58.2	2.2
Gabon	105	57.8	0.0
Tanzania	106	57.8	0.1
Ivory Coast	107	57.7	3.6
Cambodia	108	57.4	1.1
Tunisia	109	57.3	0.3
Moldova	110	57.3	1.8
Kenya	111	57.1	1.2
Honduras	112	57.1	1.3
Benin	113	57.1	0.5
Brazil	114	56.9	0.8
Belize	115	56.7	0.6
Bhutan	116	56.7	1.7
Seychelles	117	56.2	1.3
Djibouti	118	55.9	2.0
Greece	119	55.9	0.3
India	120	55.7	0.5
Guyana	121	55.7	1.9
Mali	122	55.5	0.9
Yemen	123	55.5	0.4
Malawi	124	55.4	0.1
Senegal	125	55.4	0.1
Pakistan	126	55.2	0.1
Niger	127	55.1	1.2
Mozambique	128	55.0	0.0
Nigeria	129	54.3	0.8
Suriname	130	54.2	2.2
Bangladesh	131	54.1	1.5
Papua New Guinea	132	53.9	0.3
Guinea	133	53.5	2.3
Mauritania	134	53.2	0.9
Egypt	135	52.9	1.9
Cameroon	136	52.6	0.3
China	137	52.5	0.6
Liberia	138	52.4	3.1
Tajikistan	139	52.0	1.4
Russia	140	51.9	0.8
Burundi	141	51.4	2.4
Comoros	142	51.4	3.9
Guinea-Bissau	143	51.3	0.2
Laos	144	51.2	1.1
Maldives	145	51.0	2.0
Algeria	146	50.8	1.2
Vietnam	147	50.8	0.2
Sierra Leone	148	50.5	2.2
Nepal	149	50.1	0.3
Belarus	150	50.1	2.1
Ethiopia	151	50.0	0.6
Togo	152	49.9	1.1
Micronesia	153	49.8	0.3
Lesotho	154	49.5	1.6
Ukraine	155	49.3	3.0
Haiti	156	48.9	0.8
São Tomé and Príncipe	157	48.8	0.8
Bolivia	158	48.4	0.5
Ecuador	159	48.0	1.1
Angola	160	47.7	0.4
Central African Republic	161	46.7	3.7
Burma	162	46.5	7.3
Uzbekistan	163	46.5	0.5
Kiribati	164	46.3	0.4
Solomon Islands	165	46.2	1.2
Argentina	166	46.6	2.1
Chad	167	44.5	0.7
Equatorial Guinea	168	44.4	2.1
Republic of Congo	169	43.7	0.2
East Timor	170	43.2	0.5
Turkmenistan	171	42.2	1.1
Democratic Republic of Congo	172	40.6	1.0
Iran	173	40.3	2.9
Eritrea	174	38.5	2.2
Venezuela	175	36.3	0.2
Zimbabwe	176	35.5	6.9
Cuba	177	28.7	0.2
North Korea	178	1.0	0.5

2014 ranking with more attributes

The following table contains more attributes. The whole table is available in XLS format at the Heritage Foundation web site.

Country Name	World Rank	2014 Score	Property Rights	Freedom from Corruption	Fiscal Freedom	Gov't Spending	Business Freedom	Labor Freedom	Monetary Freedom	Trade Freedom	Investment Freedom	Financial Freedom	Gov't Expenditure % of GDP
Albania	54	66.9	30	30.4	92.7	75.6	78.1	49.7	80.0	87.5	75	70	28.5
Algeria	146	50.8	30	28.7	80.5	51.0	66.3	48.3	67.8	60.8	45	30	40.4
Angola	160	47.7	15	17.7	87.7	55.3	47.5	40.1	63.6	70.1	40	40	38.6
Argentina	166	44.6	15	29.5	63.5	49.9	53.9	44.9	60.0	68.9	30	30	40.9
Armenia	41	68.9	30	26.7	86.5	81.3	83.1	78.5	77.0	85.5	70	70	25.0
Australia	3	82.0	90	87.7	64.2	62.6	94.6	79.2	80.5	86.4	85	90	35.3
Austria	24	72.4	90	75.5	51.0	23.5	76.3	80.5	79.5	87.8	90	70	50.5
Azerbaijan	81	61.3	20	22.7	88.1	64.8	73.5	77.9	78.8	77.2	60	50	34.2
Bahamas	36	69.8	70	66.6	97.3	84.1	70.7	81.5	75.1	52.2	30	70	23.0
Bahrain	13	75.1	60	49.4	99.9	71.4	76.3	82.0	78.4	78.6	75	80	30.9
Bangladesh	131	54.1	20	23.3	72.5	92.3	70.8	51.9	65.9	59.0	55	30	16.0
Barbados	45	68.3	80	77.9	74.0	49.8	72.8	78.4	74.6	60.6	55	60	40.9
Belarus	150	50.1	20	24.6	89.2	61.2	73.4	77.7	33.9	81.4	30	10	36.0
Belgium	35	69.9	80	74.2	44.8	14.8	89.9	72.7	79.5	87.8	85	70	53.3
Belize	115	56.7	30	6.7	82.1	74.2	71.6	67.2	77.6	67.8	40	50	29.3
Benin	113	57.1	30	29.5	68.3	86.1	51.0	50.5	75.4	60.0	70	50	21.5
Bhutan	116	56.7	60	58.8	82.9	57.2	59.4	83.6	65.8	49.4	20	30	37.8
Bolivia	158	48.4	10	28.1	87.1	62.5	53.4	29.9	70.0	77.6	15	50	35.4
Bosnia and Herzegovina	101	58.4	20	33.9	82.9	27.4	55.5	62.4	80.1	86.9	75	60	49.2
Botswana	27	72.0	70	61.2	81.0	69.8	68.5	69.7	72.4	82.7	75	70	31.8
Brazil	114	56.9	50	37.9	68.8	54.1	53.8	49.8	69.9	69.3	55	60	39.1
Bulgaria	61	65.7	30	35.2	91.2	64.5	73.5	80.2	79.6	87.8	55	60	34.4
Burkina Faso	98	58.9	30	31.3	83.0	82.3	60.7	55.0	78.8	67.8	60	40	24.3
Burma	162	46.5	10	11.6	86.9	89.2	28.3	75.7	64.8	73.6	15	10	19.0
Burundi	141	51.4	20	15.9	73.5	51.9	59.8	63.1	68.2	71.8	60	30	40.0
Cambodia	108	57.4	30	18.7	90.8	88.4	36.6	50.2	77.9	71.0	60	50	19.6
Cameroon	136	52.6	30	21.9	71.7	86.0	45.0	56.1	69.4	61.2	35	50	21.6
Canada	6	80.2	90	87.7	79.7	47.3	89.3	83.1	76.3	88.3	80	80	41.9
Cape Verde	60	66.1	70	54.9	77.4	68.6	63.8	48.0	79.1	69.6	70	60	32.3
Central African Republic	161	46.7	10	20.6	65.1	92.6	33.9	40.4	72.5	51.8	50	30	15.7
Chad	167	44.5	20	15.9	46.2	80.0	24.9	43.3	69.8	55.2	50	40	25.8
Chile	7	78.7	90	72.3	76.5	83.8	69.3	69.3	84.1	82.0	90	70	23.2
China	137	52.5	20	35.0	69.9	82.9	49.7	61.9	73.3	71.8	30	30	23.9
Colombia	34	70.7	50	33.2	80.6	74.9	85.2	80.5	78.8	78.8	75	70	28.9
Comoros	142	51.4	30	22.1	64.5	85.3	49.4	50.1	74.5	72.7	35	30	22.1
Democratic Republic of the Congo	172	40.6	10	17.6	69.4	74.6	30.0	38.5	63.0	63.0	20	20	29.1
Republic of the Congo	169	43.7	10	20.6	67.5	79.6	35.1	47.0	72.0	55.6	20	30	26.1
Costa Rica	53	66.9	50	50.9	80.0	90.0	64.9	53.3	76.3	83.8	70	50	18.2
Côte d'Ivoire	107	57.7	30	22.1	79.1	79.8	55.1	59.0	80.6	71.4	50	50	25.9
Croatia	87	60.4	40	41.1	69.4	45.8	61.4	39.4	79.2	87.4	80	60	42.5
Cuba	177	28.7	10	41.2	60.0	0.0	20.0	20.0	65.8	60.0	0	10	66.7
Cyprus	46	67.6	70	64.0	79.7	36.2	79.7	70.2	78.8	82.8	65	50	46.1
Czech Republic	26	72.2	70	45.3	81.7	43.8	70.1	84.0	79.4	87.8	80	80	43.3
Denmark	10	76.1	90	93.7	39.3	0.5	98.1	91.2	80.0	87.8	90	90	57.6
Djibouti	118	55.9	30	30.9	80.6	62.8	42.7	65.1	77.2	54.8	65	50	35.2
Dominica	63	65.2	60	53.5	72.9	61.7	75.0	70.7	85.8	72.7	70	30	35.7
Dominican Republic	80	61.3	30	27.3	83.7	92.3	56.1	55.2	75.7	77.8	75	40	16.1
Ecuador	159	48.0	20	26.0	79.8	41.8	52.8	52.0	66.1	71.8	30	40	44.0
Egypt	135	52.9	20	28.6	85.6	69.6	62.7	45.7	60.5	71.4	45	40	31.8
El Salvador	59	66.2	40	34.3	79.6	85.8	59.6	63.3	80.0	79.0	70	70	21.7
Equatorial Guinea	168	44.4	10	16.6	75.5	62.6	43.4	41.5	75.4	53.8	35	30	35.3
Eritrea	174	38.5	10	22.9	57.0	66.1	18.6	63.6	57.6	69.1	0	20	33.6
Estonia	11	75.9	90	64.2	80.4	56.0	77.6	55.9	76.9	87.8	90	80	38.3
Ethiopia	151	50.0	30	27.0	77.5	89.9	57.8	54.7	59.0	64.2	20	20	18.4
Fiji	99	58.7	25	20.0	82.3	76.2	64.9	73.1	75.2	70.2	50	50	28.2
Finland	19	73.4	90	93.4	65.1	8.9	93.6	46.5	78.9	87.8	90	80	55.1
France	70	63.5	80	69.9	48.4	5.6	79.9	51.8	76.1	82.8	70	70	56.1
Gabon	105	57.8	40	29.1	74.5	81.7	58.9	63.0	75.1	61.0	55	40	24.7
Gambia	92	59.5	30	31.7	79.0	79.8	57.4	65.8	71.3	65.0	65	50	26.0
Georgia	22	72.6	40	42.8	87.3	69.7	87.8	91.2	78.4	88.6	80	60	31.8
Germany	18	73.4	90	80.1	61.2	38.2	89.9	46.4	80.8	87.8	90	70	45.4
Ghana	66	64.2	50	40.4	85.4	83.3	62.6	60.2	65.8	64.8	70	60	23.6
Greece	119	55.7	40	33.2	65.9	19.2	75.8	53.9	76.3	82.8	60	50	51.9
Guatemala	83	61.2	25	28.7	79.6	93.6	58.4	49.3	76.7	85.4	65	50	14.6
Guinea	133	53.5	20	19.2	69.3	86.2	51.8	73.4	64.1	61.2	50	40	21.5
Guinea-Bissau	143	51.3	20	20.2	89.0	86.6	40.5	61.4	74.4	61.4	30	30	21.2
Guyana	121	55.7	30	24.4	68.4	71.8	64.3	72.6	78.1	72.0	45	30	30.6
Haiti	156	48.9	10	16.9	80.3	66.3	33.3	68.5	73.6	70.4	40	30	33.5
Honduras	112	57.1	30	23.7	84.9	79.8	55.4	26.5	75.1	75.4	60	60	25.9
Hong Kong	1	90.1	90	82.3	93.0	89.7	98.9	95.5	82.0	90.0	90	90	18.5
Hungary	51	67.0	60	48.6	81.1	26.8	79.3	65.7	75.6	87.8	75	70	49.4
Iceland	23	72.4	90	84.2	72.9	32.9	91.2	59.1	76.0	87.9	70	60	47.3
India	120	55.7	50	31.5	79.4	77.8	37.7	74.0	65.5	65.6	35	40	27.2
Indonesia	100	58.5	30	28.0	83.4	89.8	54.8	47.8	76.4	74.8	40	60	18.5
Iran	173	40.3	10	23.4	80.6	85.9	62.3	41.7	47.3	41.4	0	10	21.7
Ireland	9	76.2	90	74.8	74.0	30.6	83.4	79.5	81.7	87.8	90	70	48.1
Israel	44	68.4	75	59.3	60.1	40.3	73.2	63.0	80.6	82.9	80	70	44.6
Italy	86	60.9	50	38.5	55.5	25.6	75.5	52.5	78.9	87.8	85	60	49.8
Jamaica	56	66.7	40	33.0	77.2	69.4	84.6	75.6	77.3	75.1	85	50	31.9
Japan	25	72.4	80	77.8	69.2	47.1	80.0	79.8	87.5	82.4	70	50	42.0
Jordan	39	69.2	60	45.6	94.0	66.9	62.0	72.9	81.3	79.6	70	60	33.2
Kazakhstan	67	63.7	30	25.7	92.9	85.0	74.4	86.7	74.4	78.2	40	50	22.3
Kenya	111	57.1	30	21.0	78.0	74.6	55.8	64.0	74.9	72.8	50	50	29.1
Kiribati	164	46.3	30	29.2	71.4	0.0	57.0	83.6	81.3	55.4	25	30	91.8
Korea, North	178	1.0	5	5.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0	0	N/A
Korea, South	31	71.2	70	54.0	72.6	72.6	92.8	47.8	79.6	72.6	70	80	30.2
Kuwait	76	62.3	50	43.7	97.7	55.6	57.7	63.6	73.2	76.7	55	50	38.5
Kyrgyzstan	85	61.1	20	19.2	94.6	60.2	74.2	83.8	73.7	75.2	60	50	36.4
Laos	144	51.2	15	18.6	86.6	86.7	60.7	54.9	75.5	58.6	35	20	21.0
Latvia	42	68.7	50	43.6	84.6	54.9	82.5	68.5	79.7	87.8	85	50	38.8
Lebanon	96	59.4	20	24.5	90.9	73.7	55.6	58.7	74.5	75.8	60	60	29.6
Lesotho	154	49.5	40	37.1	67.4	0.0	54.0	62.4	75.5	68.6	50	40	63.1
Liberia	138	52.4	30	33.8	83.6	70.5	62.3	47.0	72.9	64.1	40	20	31.4
Lithuania	21	73.0	60	49.9	92.9	55.9	85.7	59.0	78.6	87.8	80	80	38.3
Luxembourg	16	74.2	90	84.1	62.8	47.6	72.6	43.1	78.9	87.8	95	80	41.8
Macau	29	71.3	60	49.7	71.4	91.7	60.0	55.0	79.8	90.0	85	70	16.6
Macedonia	43	68.6	35	39.6	91.4	70.7	81.0	78.8	83.5	85.9	60	60	31.3
Madagascar	79	61.7	40	27.3	90.8	92.3	62.8	43.9	77.6	77.8	55	50	16.0
Malawi	124	55.4	45	31.9	78.0	63.0	38.9	60.3	64.1	72.7	50	50	35.1
Malaysia	37	69.6	55	44.3	84.6	75.6	85.6	78.5	81.0	76.4	55	60	28.5
Maldives	145	51.0	20	21.9	97.4	43.8	87.4	71.7	69.4	43.8	25	30	43.3
Mali	122	55.5	20	27.7	69.8	81.7	48.0	63.2	76.7	73.2	55	40	24.7
Malta	58	66.4	75	55.8	63.7	47.2	62.4	53.2	79.1	87.8	80	60	42.0
Mauritania	134	53.2	25	23.9	81.7	75.8	38.0	53.1	75.5	69.0	50	40	28.4
Mauritius	8	76.5	65	53.4	92.2	81.8	74.4	78.0	76.7	88.6	85	70	24.7
Mexico	55	66.8	50	29.7	80.9	78.9	76.8	58.3	77.4	85.6	70	60	26.6
Micronesia	153	49.8	30	30.0	97.5	0.0	51.7	77.9	75.2	81.0	25	30	65.3
Moldova	110	57.3	40	29.5	85.8	54.4	70.1	37.9	75.0	80.1	50	50	39.0
Mongolia	97	58.9	30	28.2	81.8	39.1	71.8	81.1	72.4	74.7	50	60	45.1
Montenegro	68	63.6	40	37.8	92.5	42.6	77.6	68.6	78.6	83.1	65	50	43.8
Morocco	103	58.3	40	33.3	71.3	64.1	76.2	31.5	78.1	58.8	70	60	34.6
Mozambique	128	55.0	30	26.2	75.7	64.6	65.2	36.7	80.8	75.5	45	50	34.4
Namibia	94	59.4	30	44.2	66.9	58.8	64.4	81.9	75.0	82.9	50	40	37.0
Nepal	149	50.1	30	21.3	85.9	89.6	58.5	43.8	76.3	61.0	5	30	18.6
Netherlands	15	74.2	90	88.0	51.7	25.6	89.7	59.6	79.9	87.8	90	80	49.8
New Zealand	5	81.2	95	94.0	71.2	32.3	96.1	90.2	86.3	86.8	80	80	47.5
Nicaragua	102	58.4	15	24.1	78.6	80.0	52.6	60.3	72.8	85.4	65	50	25.8
Niger	127	55.1	30	26.0	76.8	88.4	35.2	45.4	88.3	65.6	55	40	19.6
Nigeria	129	54.3	30	22.7	85.0	74.5	48.0	66.4	73.1	63.8	40	40	29.2
Norway	32	70.9	90	88.1	50.6	42.2	90.9	44.6	78.7	89.1	75	60	43.9
Oman	48	67.4	50	48.2	98.5	56.0	68.3	75.5	73.6	78.7	65	60	38.3
Pakistan	126	55.2	30	22.7	80.6	88.3	69.4	47.3	68.5	64.8	40	40	19.8
Panama	71	63.4	30	34.0	84.3	78.7	73.0	39.4	75.1	74.2	75	70	26.6
Papua New Guinea	132	53.9	20	20.2	66.7	75.4	57.0	73.7	75.5	85.1	35	30	28.6
Paraguay	78	62.0	30	20.5	96.2	89.0	58.0	28.9	80.9	81.1	75	60	19.1
Peru	47	67.4	40	34.0	79.1	89.1	70.6	61.4	83.3	87.0	70	60	19.1
Philippines	89	60.1	30	26.1	79.2	92.3	59.9	49.7	78.0	75.5	60	50	16.0
Poland	50	67.0	60	54.8	76.1	43.2	70.1	60.4	77.8	87.8	70	70	43.5
Portugal	69	63.5	70	61.1	60.1	26.8	84.9	34.6	79.3	87.8	70	60	49.4
Qatar	30	71.2	70	72.4	99.9	72.1	71.7	70.0	81.2	79.8	45	50	30.5
Romania	62	65.5	40	37.7	87.0	59.2	71.0	65.2	77.1	87.8	80	50	36.9
Russia	140	51.9	25	22.1	85.6	61.5	70.0	55.8	69.4	74.6	25	30	35.8
Rwanda	65	64.7	30	46.9	80.3	78.2	69.6	84.1	74.8	77.7	65	40	27.0
Saint Lucia	33	70.7	70	70.6	75.7	63.6	83.1	84.5	82.7	71.9	65	40	34.8
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	52	67.0	70	61.1	73.7	72.4	76.3	78.7	79.8	67.6	50	40	30.3
Samoa	84	61.1	60	38.0	79.9	42.2	73.7	80.3	76.1	75.8	55	30	43.9
São Tomé and Príncipe	157	48.8	20	32.5	86.9	27.9	52.6	44.7	68.3	75.3	50	30	49.0
Saudi Arabia	77	62.2	40	43.7	99.7	63.1	67.3	75.8	68.7	74.0	40	50	35.1
Senegal	125	55.4	40	29.5	65.1	75.4	47.5	41.5	81.8	73.2	60	40	28.6
Serbia	95	59.4	40	34.0	83.1	38.6	59.3	70.1	66.9	77.0	75	50	45.2
Seychelles	117	56.2	50	48.5	76.8	61.8	67.6	68.5	75.1	33.4	50	30	35.7
Sierra Leone	148	50.5	15	24.6	80.7	85.7	55.3	28.7	70.2	70.2	55	20	21.9
Singapore	2	89.4	90	91.9	91.2	91.2	96.8	96.5	81.5	90.0	85	80	17.1
Slovakia	57	66.4	50	41.8	80.2	56.0	67.0	53.6	78.1	87.8	80	70	38.3
Slovenia	74	62.7	60	61.0	58.9	22.6	85.4	51.0	80.3	87.8	70	50	50.8
Solomon Islands	165	46.2	30	25.0	61.4	21.3	65.2	65.2	75.4	73.0	15	30	51.2
South Africa	75	62.5	50	41.6	68.7	69.1	74.5	54.4	75.3	76.1	55	60	32.1
Spain	49	67.2	70	62.6	54.0	38.7	77.3	52.2	79.9	87.8	80	70	45.2
Sri Lanka	90	60.0	40	33.4	84.9	86.3	74.4	59.2	68.0	73.6	40	40	21.4
Suriname	130	54.2	40	32.9	69.0	78.3	41.8	81.8	71.8	66.2	30	30	26.9
Swaziland	82	61.2	40	31.6	74.7	70.9	64.2	71.7	72.3	81.5	65	40	31.2
Sweden	20	73.1	90	92.3	42.9	21.4	91.1	52.9	82.5	87.8	90	80	51.2
Switzerland	4	81.6	90	88.1	68.9	65.7	75.4	87.4	85.2	90.0	85	80	33.8
Taiwan	17	73.9	70	59.7	80.3	84.7	93.9	53.1	81.7	85.8	70	60	22.6
Tajikistan	139	52.0	20	19.4	92.3	78.1	58.4	45.5	67.7	73.2	25	40	27.0
Tanzania	106	57.8	30	28.8	79.7	78.3	47.0	61.1	66.0	76.8	60	50	26.9
Thailand	72	63.3	45	33.6	79.7	83.6	71.4	61.6	68.6	75.0	45	70	23.4
Timor-Leste	170	43.2	20	25.4	64.7	0.0	45.4	79.2	68.3	64.4	45	20	139.7
Togo	152	49.9	30	23.8	69.7	82.4	43.3	42.8	79.3	62.8	35	30	24.2
Tonga	104	58.2	20	28.6	86.7	74.8	74.6	91.2	71.3	79.5	35	20	29.0
Trinidad and Tobago	73	62.7	50	34.0	84.8	62.5	59.4	76.4	71.7	78.6	60	50	35.4
Tunisia	109	57.3	40	39.2	74.3	63.8	80.7	72.6	75.9	61.8	35	30	34.8
Turkey	64	64.9	50	44.0	77.5	63.5	67.6	59.7	71.8	84.5	70	60	34.9
Turkmenistan	171	42.2	5	13.4	95.2	93.0	30.0	30.0	65.9	79.2	0	10	15.2
Uganda	91	59.9	30	23.8	79.1	87.3	45.1	87.4	71.0	75.4	60	40	20.6
Ukraine	155	49.3	30	21.9	79.1	37.5	59.8	49.8	78.7	86.2	20	30	45.6
United Arab Emirates	28	71.4	55	66.4	99.6	83.1	74.4	82.9	84.6	82.5	35	50	23.7
United Kingdom	14	74.9	90	76.4	56.6	29.5	92.0	73.1	73.5	87.8	90	80	48.5
United States	12	75.5	80	72.0	65.8	48.1	89.2	97.2	75.4	86.8	70	70	41.6
Uruguay	38	69.3	70	70.6	77.4	68.0	74.5	68.1	72.1	82.5	80	30	32.6
Uzbekistan	163	46.5	15	13.4	90.3	70.4	75.7	60.8	63.1	66.1	0	10	31.4
Vanuatu	93	59.5	40	33.5	97.3	81.7	54.8	56.8	82.7	48.0	60	40	24.7
Venezuela	175	36.3	5	16.5	75.3	51.8	43.4	33.7	49.7	62.7	5	20	40.1
Vietnam	147	50.8	15	26.9	77.0	71.4	62.0	68.3	63.6	78.7	15	30	30.9
Yemen	123	55.5	30	19.4	91.7	74.9	59.2	54.9	62.1	82.4	50	30	28.9
Zambia	88	60.4	30	31.3	71.8	82.9	74.9	50.1	68.0	84.6	60	50	23.9
Zimbabwe	176	35.5	10	19.3	63.3	64.0	34.5	22.2	73.0	54.2	5	10	34.6
Brunei Darussalam	40	69.0	40	53.3	90.2	66.1	68.2	96.5	74.2	81.8	70	50	33.6

2012 and 2013 rankings

Key: ██ Free (80-100), ██ Mostly Free (70.0-79.9), ██ Moderately Free (60.0-69.9), ██ Mostly Unfree (50.0-59.9), ██ Repressed (0-49.9).

	2013	2012
Country Rank Score Change Rank Score Change Hong Kong 1 89.3 0.6 1 89.9 0.2 Singapore 2 88.0 0.5 2 87.5 0.3 Australia 3 82.6 0.5 3 83.1 0.6 New Zealand 4 81.4 0.7 4 82.1 0.2 Switzerland 5 81.0 0.1 5 81.1 0.8 Canada 6 79.4 0.5 6 79.9 0.9 Chile 7 79.0 0.7 7 78.3 0.9 Mauritius 8 76.9 0.1 8 77.0 0.8 Denmark 9 76.1 0.1 11 76.2 2.4 United States 10 76.0 0.3 10 76.3 1.5 Ireland 11 75.7 1.2 9 76.9 1.8 Bahrain 12 75.5 0.3 12 75.2 2.5 Estonia 13 75.3 2.1 16 73.2 0.2 United Kingdom 14 74.8 0.7 14 74.1 0.4 Luxembourg 15 74.2 0.3 13 74.5 1.7 Finland 16 74.0 1.7 17 72.3 1.7 Netherlands 17 73.5 0.2 15 73.3 1.4 Sweden 18 72.9 1.2 21 71.7 0.2 Germany 19 72.8 1.8 26 71.0 0.8 Taiwan 20 72.7 0.8 18 71.9 1.1 Georgia 21 72.2 2.8 34 69.4 0.1 Lithuania 22 72.1 0.6 23 71.5 0.2 Iceland 23 72.1 1.2 27 70.9 2.7 Japan 24 71.8 0.2 22 71.6 1.2 Austria 25 71.8 1.5 28 70.3 1.6 Macau 26 71.7 0.1 19 71.8 1.3 Qatar 27 71.3 0.0 25 71.3 0.8 United Arab Emirates 28 71.1 1.8 35 69.3 1.5 Czech Republic 29 70.9 1.0 30 69.9 0.5 Botswana 30 70.6 1.0 33 69.6 0.8 Norway 31 70.5 1.7 40 68.8 1.5 Saint Lucia 32 70.4 0.9 24 71.3 0.5 Jordan 33 70.4 0.5 32 69.9 1.0 South Korea 34 70.3 0.4 31 69.9 0.1 Bahamas 35 70.1 2.1 46 68.0 0.0 Uruguay 36 69.7 0.2 29 69.9 0.1 Colombia 37 69.6 1.6 45 68.0 0.0 Armenia 38 69.4 0.6 39 68.8 0.9 Barbados 39 69.3 0.3 37 69.0 0.5 Belgium 40 69.2 0.2 38 69.0 1.2 Cyprus 41 69.0 2.8 20 71.8 1.5 Slovakia 42 68.7 1.7 51 67.0 2.5 Macedonia 43 68.2 0.3 43 68.5 2.5 Peru 44 68.2 0.5 42 68.7 0.1 Oman 45 68.1 0.2 47 67.9 1.9 Spain 46 68.0 1.1 36 69.1 1.1 Malta 47 67.5 0.5 50 67.0 1.3 Hungary 48 67.3 0.2 49 67.1 0.5 Costa Rica 49 67.0 1.0 44 68.0 0.7 Mexico 50 67.0 1.7 54 65.3 2.5 Israel 51 66.9 0.9 48 67.8 0.7 Jamaica 52 66.8 1.7 58 65.1 0.6 El Salvador 53 66.7 2.0 41 68.7 0.1 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 54 66.7 0.2 52 66.5 0.4 Latvia 55 66.5 1.3 56 65.2 0.6 Malaysia 56 66.1 0.3 53 66.4 0.1 Poland 57 66.0 1.8 64 64.2 0.1 Albania 58 65.2 0.1 57 65.1 1.1 Romania 59 65.1 0.7 62 64.4 0.3 Bulgaria 60 65.0 0.3 61 64.7 0.2 Thailand 61 64.1 0.8 60 64.9 0.2 France 62 64.1 0.9 67 63.2 1.4 Rwanda 63 64.1 0.8 59 64.9 2.2 Dominica 64 63.9 2.3 80 61.6 1.7 Cape Verde 65 63.7 0.2 66 63.5 1.1 Kuwait 66 63.1 0.6 71 62.5 2.4 Portugal 67 63.1 0.1 68 63.0 1.0 Kazakhstan 68 63.0 0.6 65 63.6 1.5 Turkey 69 62.9 0.4 73 62.5 1.7 Montenegro 70 62.6 0.1 72 62.5 0.0 Panama 71 62.5 2.7 55 65.2 0.3 Trinidad and Tobago 72 62.3 2.1 63 64.4 2.1 Madagascar 73 62.0 0.4 75 62.4 1.2 South Africa 74 61.8 0.9 70 62.7 0.0 Mongolia 75 61.7 0.2 81 61.5 2.0 Slovenia 76 61.7 1.2 69 62.9 1.7 Ghana 77 61.3 0.6 84 60.7 1.3 Croatia 78 61.3 0.4 83 60.9 0.2 Uganda 79 61.1 0.8 78 61.9 0.2 Paraguay 80 61.1 0.7 79 61.8 0.5 Sri Lanka 81 60.7 2.4 97 58.3 1.2 Saudi Arabia 82 60.6 1.9 74 62.5 3.7 Italy 83 60.6 1.8 92 58.8 1.5 Namibia 84 60.3 1.6 76 61.9 0.8 Guatemala 85 60.0 0.9 82 60.9 1.0 Burkina Faso 86 59.9 0.7 85 60.6 0.0 Dominican Republic 87 59.7 0.5 89 60.2 0.2 Azerbaijan 88 59.7 0.8 91 58.9 0.8 Kyrgyz Republic 89 59.6 0.6 88 60.2 0.9 Morocco 90 59.6 0.6 87 60.2 0.6 Lebanon 91 59.5 0.6 90 60.1 0.0 The Gambia 92 58.8 0.0 94 58.8 1.4 Zambia 93 58.7 0.4 96 58.3 1.4 Serbia 94 58.6 0.6 98 58.0 0.0 Cambodia 95 58.5 0.9 102 57.6 0.3 Honduras 96 58.4 0.4 93 58.8 0.2 Philippines 97 58.2 1.1 107 57.1 0.9 Tanzania 98 57.9 0.9 110 57.0 0.0 Gabon 99 57.8 1.4 113 56.4 0.3 Brazil 100 57.7 0.2 99 57.9 1.6 Benin 101 57.6 1.9 118 55.7 0.3 Belize 102 57.3 4.6 77 61.9 1.9 Bosnia and Herzegovina 103 57.3 0.0 104 57.3 0.2 Swaziland 104 57.2 0.0 106 57.2 1.9 Fiji 105 57.2 0.1 105 57.3 3.1 Samoa 106 57.1 3.4 86 60.5 0.1 Tunisia 107 57.0 1.6 95 58.6 0.1 Indonesia 108 56.9 0.5 115 56.4 0.4 Vanuatu 109 56.6 0.0 112 56.6 0.1 Nicaragua 110 56.6 1.3 101 57.9 0.9 Mali 111 56.4 0.6 117 55.8 0.5 Tonga 112 56.0 1.0 109 57.0 1.2 Yemen 113 55.9 0.6 121 55.3 1.1 Kenya 114 55.9 1.6 103 57.5 0.1 Moldova 115 55.5 1.1 124 54.4 1.3 Senegal 116 55.5 0.1 120 55.4 0.3 Greece 117 55.4 0.0 119 55.4 4.9 Malawi 118 55.3 1.1 114 56.4 0.6 India 119 55.2 0.6 123 54.6 0.0 Nigeria 120 55.1 1.2 116 56.3 0.4 Pakistan 121 55.1 0.4 122 54.7 0.4 Bhutan 122 55.0 1.6 111 56.6 1.0 Mozambique 123 55.0 2.1 108 57.1 0.3 Seychelles 124 54.9 1.9 132 53.0 1.8 Egypt 125 54.8 3.1 100 57.9 1.2 Ivory Coast 126 54.1 0.2 126 54.3 1.1 Djibouti 127 53.9 0.0 127 53.9 0.6 Niger 128 53.9 0.4 125 54.3 0.0 Guyana 129 53.8 2.5 137 51.3 0.9 Papua New Guinea 130 53.6 0.2 128 53.8 1.2 Tajikistan 131 53.4 0.0 129 53.4 0.1 Bangladesh 132 52.6 0.6 130 53.2 0.2 Cameroon 133 52.3 0.5 135 51.8 0.0 Mauritania 134 52.3 0.7 131 53.0 0.9 Suriname 135 52.0 0.6 133 52.6 0.5 China 136 51.9 0.7 138 51.2 0.8 Guinea 137 51.2 0.4 141 50.8 0.9 Syria – – – 139 51.2 0.1 Guinea-Bissau 138 51.1 1.0 149 50.1 3.6 Russia 139 51.1 0.6 144 50.5 0.0 Vietnam 140 51.0 0.3 136 51.3 0.3 Nepal 141 50.4 0.2 147 50.2 0.1 Central African Republic 142 50.4 0.1 145 50.3 1.0 Micronesia 143 50.1 0.6 143 50.7 0.4 Laos 144 50.1 0.1 150 50.0 1.3 Algeria 145 49.6 1.4 140 51.0 1.4 Ethiopia 146 49.4 2.6 134 52.0 1.5 Liberia 147 49.3 0.7 154 48.6 2.1 Burundi 148 49.0 0.9 157 48.1 1.5 Maldives 149 49.0 0.2 151 49.2 0.9 Togo 150 48.8 0.5 155 48.3 0.8 Sierra Leone 151 48.3 0.8 152 49.1 0.5 Haiti 152 48.1 2.6 142 50.7 1.4 São Tomé and Príncipe 153 48.0 2.2 148 50.2 0.7 Belarus 154 48.0 1.0 153 49.0 1.1 Lesotho 155 47.9 1.3 161 46.6 0.9 Bolivia 156 47.9 2.3 146 50.2 0.2 Comoros 157 47.5 1.8 165 45.7 1.9 Angola 158 47.3 0.6 160 46.7 0.5 Ecuador 159 46.9 1.4 156 48.3 1.2 Argentina 160 46.7 1.3 158 48.0 3.7 Ukraine 161 46.3 0.2 163 46.1 0.3 Uzbekistan 162 46.0 0.2 164 45.8 0.0 Kiribati 163 45.9 1.0 159 46.9 2.1 Chad 164 45.2 0.4 166 44.8 0.5 Solomon Islands 165 45.0 1.2 162 46.2 0.3 East Timor 166 43.7 0.4 169 43.3 0.5 Republic of the Congo 167 43.5 0.3 167 43.8 0.2 Iran 168 43.2 0.9 171 42.3 0.2 Turkmenistan 169 42.6 1.2 168 43.8 0.2 Equatorial Guinea 170 42.3 0.5 170 42.8 4.7 Democratic Republic of the Congo 171 39.6 1.5 172 41.1 0.4 Myanmar 172 39.2 0.5 173 38.7 0.9 Eritrea 173 36.3 0.1 175 36.2 0.5 Venezuela 174 36.1 2.0 174 38.1 0.5 Libya – – – 176 35.9 2.7 Zimbabwe 175 28.6 2.3 178 26.3 4.2 Cuba 176 28.5 0.2 177 28.3 0.6 North Korea 177 1.5 0.5 179 1.0 0.0

Historical rankings (1995–2008)

Country/Region	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004	2003	2002	2001	2000	1999	1998	1997	1996	1995
Hong Kong	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Singapore	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Ireland	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	3	10	11	11	13	27	20
Australia	4	4	7	9	8	10	11	8	5	5	7	9	10	8
United States	5	6	5	5	7	7	8	6	8	7	8	8	5	4
New Zealand	6	5	4	3	3	3	3	4	3	3	3	3	3
Canada	7	10	10	12	12	13	14	21	20	25	27	26	20	18
Chile	8	8	8	8	11	12	9	12	12	12	9	7	13	14
Switzerland	9	9	9	6	5	6	6	10	6	4	4	4	4
United Kingdom	10	7	6	7	9	9	7	7	4	6	5	5	7	3
Denmark	11	12	13	13	17	20	23	33	33	32	34	30	31
Estonia	12	11	15	14	10	8	10	9	24	13	15	24	38	26
Netherlands	13	15	16	18	14	14	14	16	21	57	24	20	23
Iceland	14	13	11	10	19	16	19	15	15	19	18	19
Luxembourg	15	14	12	11	6	5	5	5	7	15	13	12	15
Finland	16	16	17	21	16	15	16	27	50	54	55	39	47
Japan	17	18	18	36	50	34	39	23	19	27	21	21	14	6
Mauritius	18	32	35	35	51	52	33	45	36	20
Bahrain	19	24	23	22	13	11	12	11	11	8	6	6	6	5
Belgium	20	17	24	30	30	33	34	57	55	60	48	44	36
Barbados	21	27	20	24	28	23	17	20	27	37	33	46	53
Cyprus	22	20	21	20	15	19	20	22	35	33	29	27	30
Germany	23	22	25	28	27	26	25	29	43	40	52	29	25	17
The Bahamas	24	19	19	15	20	17	15	14	16	10	10	10	11	11
Taiwan	25	25	29	19	26	21	22	18	17	18	20	22	9	7
Lithuania	26	21	22	23	18	27	43	53	67	67	74	78	104
Sweden	27	33	27	27	24	24	24	43	47	51	53	53	55	41
Armenia	28	30	14	25	23	37	32	46	62	96	117	123	125
Trinidad and Tobago	29	23	26	17	21	29	26	19	13	16	17	16	24
Austria	30	26	30	34	32	35	36	37	31	53	43	40	26	16
Spain	31	28	32	31	29	28	29	36	41	45	62	68	65	34
Georgia	32	31	54	93	78	84	104	87	107	114	122	125	123
El Salvador	33	29	28	16	22	22	21	17	9	9	22	18	21	19
Norway	34	37	34	45	42	39	37	41	22	29	31	41	39
Slovakia	35	36	33	42	48	77	76	85	108	105	85	85	75	46
Botswana	36	35	31	26	25	30	42	42	42	59	60	72	56	57
Czech Republic	37	39	40	47	35	36	40	26	30	23	28	54	29	23
Latvia	38	38	37	39	33	44	52	44	57	50	56	57	86
Kuwait	39	41	41	48	55	43	46	35	25	24	38	42	35
Uruguay	40	34	43	33	37	25	30	24	28	30	26	31	46	37

Method

The Index's 2008 definition of economic freedom is "the highest form of economic freedom provides an absolute right of property ownership, fully realized freedoms of movement for labor, capital, and goods, and an absolute absence of coercion or constraint of economic liberty beyond the extent necessary for citizens to protect and maintain liberty itself."

The index scores nations on ten factors of economic freedom, separated into four categories, using statistics from organizations like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, Economist Intelligence Unit and Transparency International. In each factor, countries are scored 0 to 100, with 0 being the least free and 100 the most free. A score of 100 signifies an economic environment or set of policies that is most conducive to economic freedom. The methodology has shifted and changed as new data and measurements have become available, especially in the area of Labor Freedom, which was given its own indicator spot in 2007. The following list explains what each factor currently assesses and groups them according to their respective category:

Rule of Law

• Property Rights: Degree of a country's legal protection of private property rights, degree of enforcement of those laws, independence of and corruption within the judiciary, and likelihood of expropriation.
• Freedom from Corruption: The non-prevalence of political corruption within a country, according to the Corruption Perceptions Index.

Limited Government

• Fiscal Freedom: How free is a country from tax burden. It comprises three quantitative measures: top marginal tax rate of both individual (1) and corporate (2) income, and total tax burden as a percentage of GDP (3).
• Government Size/Spending: Governments' expenditures as a percentage of GDP, including consumption and transfers. The higher the percentual spending, the lower the score.

Regulatory Efficiency

• Business Freedom: A country's freedom from the burden of regulations on starting, operating, and closing business, given factors such as time, cost and number of procedures, as well as the efficiency of government in the regulatory process.
• Labor Freedom: How free is a country from legal regulation on the labor market, including those relating to minimum wages, hiring and firing, hours of work and severance requirements.
• Monetary Freedom: How free from microeconomic intervention and price instability is a country, basing on an equation considering the weighted average inflation rate in the last three years and price controls.

Open Markets

• Trade Freedom: Freedom from sizeable numbers and burdens of tariffs and non-tariff barriers to imports and exports of a country.
• Investment Freedom: Freedom from restrictions on the movement and use of investment capital, regardless of activity, within and across the country's borders.
• Financial Freedom: A country's independence from government control and interference in the financial sector, including banks. It considers government ownership of financial firms, extent of financial and capital market development, government influence on the allocation of credit and openness to foreign competition.

Meaning

The Heritage Foundation reports that the top 20% on the index have twice the per capita income of those in the second quintile, and five times that of the bottom 20%. Carl Schramm, who wrote the first chapter of the 2008 Index, states that cities of Medieval Italy and mid-19th century Midwestern American cities all flourished to the degree they possessed economic fluidity and institutional adaptiveness created by economic freedom.

According to Will Wilkinson of the libertarian think tank Cato Institute, studies show that higher economic freedom correlates strongly with higher self-reported happiness. According to economists Tomi Ovaska and Ryo Takashima, economic freedom research suggests "that people unmistakably care about the degree to which the society where they live provides them opportunities and the freedom to undertake new projects, strongly with and make choices based on one's personal preferences."

According to the Cato Institute, higher economic freedom promotes participation and collaboration. Also claimed is that higher economic freedom is extremely significant in preventing wars; according to their calculations, freedom is around 54 times more effective than democracy (as measured by Democracy Score) in diminishing violent conflict.

Ratings

Since the index was created in 1995, the score for world economic freedom has increased, rising 2.6 points up to 2008. In 2011 the score had decreased from the 2008 score of 60.2 to 59.7, which represents an increase of 2.2 points since 1995. The Economic Freedom score improved for 117 countries, the majority of countries included in the index, which were mainly developing and emerging market economies. With the exception of Europe and North America, there were increased levels of freedom recorded in all regions, with the greatest improvement shown in Sub-Saharan Africa. The top five "free" economies identified by the 2011 index were Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and Switzerland, each scoring over 80 on the economic freedom grading scale. Since the Index was created in 1995, Hong Kong has been the top performing economy.

In 2011, the United States dropped to 9th place behind such countries as Denmark, Canada, and first-place Hong Kong. The Heritage Foundation has pointed to increases in government spending as the reason for the United States' decline, and according to data from the 2011 index, the growth rates of countries with the highest levels of government spending were 4.5 points lower, on average, than countries where government spending was under control. In their "Executive Highlights" of index results, the Heritage Foundation stated that "high levels of government spending in response to the global economic turmoil have not resulted in higher economic growth".

The results from the 2012 index showed an overall decline in global economic freedom; according to The Heritage Foundation, the average score in its ranking was the second lowest of the last ten years. In particular, the U.S. dropped to 10th place in the ranking, and has now fallen three places since 2008, when it was 7th. A report issued by the Foundation stated that government spending was the cause of the decline, and had "not only failed to arrest the economic crisis, but also—in many countries—seems to be prolonging it". According to the report, activity in the private sector is threatened by the greater government spending, which has increased public debt and led to more bureaucracy.

Countries that shared the same rank received a tie score.

Reception

According to the Freedom House, "there is a high and statistically significant correlation between the level of political freedom as measured by Freedom House and economic freedom as measured by the Wall Street Journal/Heritage Foundation survey." The Millennium Challenge Account, a U.S. government foreign aid program, has used the Trade freedom indicator in determining which countries will receive their performance-based compacts.

Critics such as Jeffrey Sachs have contested the Index's assumption that economic openness necessarily leads to better growth. In his book The End of Poverty, Sachs graphed countries' ratings on the index against GDP per capita growth between 1995 and 2003, claiming to demonstrate no correlation between a country's rating and its rate of economic growth. Sachs pointed out, as examples, that countries with good ratings such as Switzerland and Uruguay had sluggish economic performances, others, like China, with poorer rating had very strong economic growth.

The UAE questioned the rating of their country's economic freedom in 2008, comparing its middling rating with the high rating they had received from other indicators such as Transparency International and Moody's. They also argued that the report is "unreliable", because its methodology had changed twice in the last two years.

Stefan Karlsson of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, challenged the usefulness of the index due to the fuzziness of many of the categories used to determine freedom. John Miller roundly criticizes the "Index", writing in Dollars & Sense, "In the hands of the Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation, Washington's foremost right-wing think tank, however, an economic freedom index merely measures corporate and entrepreneurial freedom from accountability. Upon examination, the index turns out to be a poor barometer of either freedom more broadly construed or of prosperity." According to Left Business Observer, growth in Index accounts for 10% of the variation in the growth of GDP.

See also

• List of countries by economic freedom
• List of freedom indices
• Mary O'Grady, an editor of the Wall Street Journal and co-editor of the Index of Economic Freedom
• Gross National Happiness
• Bhutan GNH Index
• Happiness economics

External links

• Official website
• Index of Economic Freedom in the 50 States from the Mercatus Center
• List of Global Development Indexes and Rankings