Economic Freedom Index 2021

What is the Economic Freedom Index?

The index of economic freedom is an annual index and it was introduced in 1995 by conservative think -tank of  “  ‘the Heritage foundation’ and  ‘ the wall street Journal’ “ to measure the degree of economic freedom across the world nations.

Few Key facts :

• The economic freedom index 2021 was released on 04 – MAR – 2021
• This index was Prepared By the think Tank of ‘the Heritage foundation’ and ‘ the wall street Journal’ and covering 184 Countries.
• Singapore topped the global ranking for the second year. Singapore increased its overall score in the year 2021 by 0.3 points to 89.7 primarily due to an improvement in the score for government spending.
• Rounding up the global top five are New Zealand in second place with 83.9 points, Australia, third (82.4 points), Switzerland in fourth with 81.9 points, and Ireland (81.4 points).
• In Asia-Pacific, India ranked 26th among the 40 countries. China is number 107th scoring 58.4 points.
• The least Economic freedom countries are- North Korea (178th), Venezuela (177th), and Cuba (176th).
• The countries are classified into the following Categories.
  • Free: Score (100 – 80, five countries are in this category
  • Mostly Free: Score (79.9 – 70), 56 countries are in this category
  • Moderately Free: Score (69.9 – 60), 63 countries are in this category
  • Repressed: Score (0 – 49.9), 18 countries are in this category

What is Economic Freedom?

As per the Heritage Foundation and its states that  “ Economic freedom is the fundamental right of every human to control his or her own labor and property. In an economically free society, individuals are free to work, produce, consume, and invest in any way they please. In economically free societies, governments allow labor, capital, and goods to move freely, and refrain from coercion or constraint of liberty beyond the extent necessary to protect and maintain liberty itself.”

How do you measure economic freedom?

We measure economic freedom based on 12 quantitative and qualitative factors, grouped into four broad categories, or pillars, of economic freedom:

1. Rule of Law (property rights, government integrity, judicial effectiveness)
2. Government Size (government spending, tax burden, fiscal health)
3. Regulatory Efficiency (business freedom, labor freedom, monetary freedom)
4. Open Markets (trade freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom)

Each of the twelve economic freedoms within these categories is graded on a scale of 0 to 100. A country’s overall score is derived by averaging these twelve economic freedoms, with equal weight being given to each.

Below is the list of countries with their Ranking in the Economic Freedom Index.

FREE (100-80)

Rank	Country	Overall	Change		rank	Country	Overall	Change
1	Singapore	89.7	+0.3		4	Switzerland	81.9	-0.1
2	New Zealand	83.9	-0.2		5	Ireland	81.4	+0.5
3	Australia	82.4	-0.2

 

MOSTLY FREE (79.9 – 70)

Rank	Country	Overall	Change		rank	Country	Overall	Change
6	Taiwan	78.6	+1.5		23	Japan	74.1	+0.8
7	United Kingdom	78.4	-0.9		24	South Korea	74.0	0.0
8	Estonia	78.2	+0.5		25	Austria	73.9	+0.6
9	Canada	77.9	-0.3		26	Israel	73.8	-0.2
10	Denmark	77.8	-0.5		27	Czech Republic	73.8	-1.0
11	Iceland	77.4	+0.3		28	Norway	73.4	0.0
12	Georgia	77.2	+0.1		29	Germany	72.5	-1.0
13	Mauritius	77.0	+2.1		30	Latvia	72.3	+0.4
14	United Arab Emirates	76.9	+0.7		31	Qatar	72.0	-0.3
15	Lithuania	76.9	+0.2		32	Armenia	71.9	+1.3
16	Netherlands	76.8	-0.2		33	Cyprus	71.4	+1.3
17	Finland	76.1	+0.4		34	Kazakhstan	71.1	+1.5
18	Luxembourg	76.0	+0.2		35	Bulgaria	70.4	+0.2
19	Chile	75.2	-1.6		36	Malta	70.2	+0.7
20	United States	74.8	-1.8		37	Belgium	70.1	+1.2
21	Sweden	74.7	-0.2		38	Azerbaijan	70.1	+0.8
22	Malaysia	74.4	-0.3

MODERATELY FREE (69.9 – 60)

Rank	Country	Overall	Change		rank	Country	Overall	Change
39	Spain	69.9	+3.0		69	Jordan	64.6	-1.4
40	Bahrain	69.9	+3.6		70	The Bahamas	64.6	+0.1
41	Poland	69.7	+0.6		71	Oman	64.6	+1.0
42	Thailand	69.7	+0.3		72	Costa Rica	64.2	-1.6
43	Romania	69.5	-0.2		73	Philippines	64.1	-0.4
44	Uruguay	69.3	+0.2		74	Kuwait	64.1	+0.9
45	Jamaica	69.0	+0.5		75	Guatemala	64.0	0.0
46	North Macedonia	68.6	-0.9		76	Turkey	64.0	-0.4
47	Rwanda	68.3	-2.6		77	Cabo Verde	63.8	+0.2
48	Slovenia	68.3	+0.5		78	Kyrgyz Republic	63.7	+0.8
49	Colombia	68.1	-1.1		79	Croatia	63.6	+1.4
50	Peru	67.7	-0.2		80	Montenegro	63.4	+1.9
51	Botswana	67.6	-2.0		81	Morocco	63.3	0.0
52	Portugal	67.5	+0.5		82	Bosnia and Herzegovina	62.9	+0.3
53	Saint Lucia	67.5	-0.7		83	Namibia	62.6	+1.7
54	Serbia	67.2	+1.2		84	Paraguay	62.6	-0.4
55	Hungary	67.2	+0.8		85	Moldova	62.5	+0.5
56	Indonesia	66.9	-0.3		86	Mongolia	62.4	+6.5
57	Brunei Darussalam	66.6	0.0		87	Fiji	62.2	-1.2
58	Kosovo	66.5	-0.9		88	Dominican Republic	62.1	+1.2
59	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	66.3	-0.5		89	Samoa	61.9	-0.2
60	Seychelles	66.3	+2.0		90	Vietnam	61.7	+2.9
61	Slovak Republic	66.3	-0.5		91	Côte d’Ivoire	61.7	+2.0
62	Panama	66.2	-1.0		92	Russia	61.5	+0.5
63	Saudi Arabia	66.0	+3.6		93	Tanzania	61.3	-0.4
64	France	65.7	-0.3		94	El Salvador	61.0	-0.6
65	Mexico	65.5	-0.5		95	Belarus	61.0	-0.7
66	Albania	65.2	-1.7		96	Greece	60.9	+1.0
67	Barbados	65.0	+3.6		97	Vanuatu	60.5	-0.2
68	Italy	64.9	+1.1

 

MOSTLY UNFREE (59.9 – 50)

Rank	Country	Overall	Change		rank	Country	Overall	Change
98	Honduras	59.8	-1.3		130	Egypt	55.7	+1.7
99	South Africa	59.7	+0.9		131	Sri Lanka	55.7	-1.7
100	Benin	59.6	+4.4		132	Comoros	55.7	+2.0
101	Ghana	59.2	-0.2		133	Mali	55.6	-0.3
102	Trinidad and Tobago	59.0	+0.7		134	Tajikistan	55.2	+3.0
103	Papua New Guinea	58.9	+0.5		135	Burma	55.2	+1.2
104	The Gambia	58.8	+2.5		136	Maldives	55.2	-1.3
105	Nigeria	58.7	+1.5		137	Eswatini	55.1	-0.2
106	Uganda	58.6	-0.9		138	Kenya	54.9	-0.4
107	China	58.4	-1.1		139	Guinea-Bissau	54.9	+1.6
108	Uzbekistan	58.3	+1.1		140	Angola	54.2	+2.0
109	Bhutan	58.3	-3.8		141	Laos	53.9	-1.6
110	Gabon	58.1	+1.4		142	Lesotho	53.5	-1.0
111	Senegal	58.0	0.0		143	Brazil	53.4	-0.3
112	Madagascar	57.7	-2.8		144	Cameroon	53.4	-0.2
113	Togo	57.5	+3.4		145	Malawi	53.0	+0.2
114	Belize	57.5	+0.1		146	Afghanistan	53.0	-1.7
115	Tonga	57.5	-1.3		147	Dominica	53.0	-7.8
116	Guyana	57.4	+1.2		148	Argentina	52.7	-0.4
117	Niger	57.3	+2.6		149	Ecuador	52.4	+1.1
118	Cambodia	57.3	0.0		150	Sierra Leone	51.7	+3.7
119	Tunisia	56.6	+0.8		151	Ethiopia	51.7	-1.9
120	Bangladesh	56.5	+0.1		152	Pakistan	51.7	-3.1
121	India	56.5	0.0		153	Mozambique	51.6	+1.1
122	Solomon Islands	56.5	+3.6		154	Lebanon	51.4	-0.3
123	Guinea	56.5	0.0		155	Haiti	50.8	-1.5
124	Burkina Faso	56.5	-0.2		156	Republic of Congo	50.7	+8.9
125	Nicaragua	56.3	-0.9		157	Nepal	50.7	-3.5
126	Djibouti	56.2	+3.3		158	Chad	50.4	+0.2
127	Ukraine	56.2	+1.3		159	Zambia	50.4	-3.1
128	Mauritania	56.1	+0.8		160	Micronesia	50.4	-1.6
129	São Tomé and Príncipe

 

REPRESSED (49.9 – 0)

Rank	Country	Overall	Change		rank	Country	Overall	Change
161	Burundi	49.9	+0.9		170	Timor-Leste	44.7	-1.2
162	Algeria	49.7	+2.8		171	Kiribati	44.4	-0.8
163	Equatorial Guinea	49.2	+0.9		172	Bolivia	42.7	-0.1
164	Liberia	49.2	+0.2		173	Eritrea	42.3	+3.8
165	Democratic Republic of Congo	49.0	-0.5		174	Zimbabwe	39.5	-3.6
166	Central African Republic	48.8	-1.9		175	Sudan	39.1	-5.9
167	Turkmenistan	47.4	+0.9		176	Cuba	28.1	+1.2
168	Iran	47.2	-2.0		177	Venezuela	24.7	-0.5
169	Suriname	46.4	-3.1		178	North Korea	5.2	+1.0

 

NOT RANKED:

Rank	Country	Overall	Change		rank	Country	Overall	Change
N/A	Iraq	N/A	N/A		N/A	Somalia	N/A	N/A
N/A	Libya	N/A	N/A		N/A	Syria	N/A	N/A
N/A	Liechtenstein	N/A	N/A		N/A	Yemen	N/A	N/A

Reference: https://www.heritage.org/index/ranking

You can also read: CCPI INDEX

 

Thank You !!