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Economic Freedom of the World

The foundations of economic freedom are personal choice, voluntary exchange, and open markets. As Adam Smith, Milton Friedman, and Friedrich Hayek have stressed, freedom of exchange and market coordination provide the fuel for economic progress. Without exchange and entrepreneurial activity coordinated through markets, modern living standards would be impossible.

Potentially advantageous exchanges do not always occur. Their realization is dependent on the presence of sound money, rule of law, and security of property rights, among other factors. Economic Freedom of the World seeks to measure the consistency of the institutions and policies of various countries with voluntary exchange and the other dimensions of economic freedom. The report is copublished by the Cato Institute, the Fraser Institute in Canada and more than 70 think tanks around the world.

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  • Economic Freedom of the World
    2024
    2024
    Global economic freedom has declined in each of the three years since the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, erasing more than a decade of gains.
    By James D. Gwartney, Robert A. Lawson, Ryan Murphy, Matthew D. Mitchell, Kevin B. Grier, Robin Grier, & Daniel J. Mitchell
  • Economic Freedom of the World
    2023
    2023
    For the first time in the history of the economic freedom index, Hong Kong falls from first place. Singapore is now in the top position, the United States is 5th, and Canada is 10th.
    By James D. Gwartney, Robert A. Lawson, Ryan Murphy, Matanda Abubaker, Andrea Celico, Alexander Hammond, Fred McMahon, & Martin Rode
  • Economic Freedom of the World
    2022
    2022
    Global economic freedom declined significantly in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The decline affected 146 of 165 jurisdictions in the index and is more than three times larger than the global decline caused by the 2008/2009 financial crisis.
    By James D. Gwartney, Robert A. Lawson, Joshua C. Hall, Ryan Murphy, Simeon Djankov, & Fred McMahon
  • Economic Freedom of the World
    2021
    2021
    The United States ranks 6th in the new Economic Freedom of the World report. Global freedom is up slightly through 2019, the most recent year for which data are available.
    By James D. Gwartney, Robert A. Lawson, Joshua C. Hall, Ryan Murphy, Justin T. Callais, Rosemarie Fike, Vincent Geloso, Nijdar S. Khalid, Fred McMahon, & Martin van Staden
  • Economic Freedom of the World
    2020
    2020
    Hong Kong and Singapore retain the top two positions with a score of 8.94 and 8.65 out of 10, respectively. The rest of this year’s top scores are New Zealand, Switzerland, Australia, United States, Mauritius, Georgia, Canada, and Ireland.
    By James D. Gwartney, Robert A. Lawson, Joshua C. Hall, Ryan Murphy, Niclas Berggren, Fred McMahon, & Therese Nilsson
  • Economic Freedom of the World
    2019
    2019
    Hong Kong and Singapore retain the top two positions with a score of 8.91 and 8.71 out of 10, respectively. The rest of this year’s top scores are New Zealand, Switzerland, United States, Ireland, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Mauritius.
    By James D. Gwartney, Robert A. Lawson, Joshua C. Hall, Ryan Murphy, Daniel L. Bennett, Rosemarie Fike, Fred McMahon, & Boris Nikolaev
  • Economic Freedom of the World
    2018
    2018
    Hong Kong and Singapore retain the top two positions with a score of 8.97 and 8.84 out of 10, respectively. The rest of this year’s top scores are New Zealand, Switzerland, Ireland, United States, Georgia, Mauritius, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada.
    By James D. Gwartney, Robert A. Lawson, Joshua C. Hall, Ryan Murphy, Pál Czeglédi, Rosemarie Fike, Fred McMahon, & Carlos Newland
  • Economic Freedom of the World
    2017
    2017
    Hong Kong and Singapore retain the top two positions with a score of 8.97 and 8.81 out of 10, respectively. The rest of this year’s top scores are New Zealand, 8.48; Switzerland, 8.44; Ireland, 8.19; the United Kingdom, 8.05; Mauritius, 8.04; Georgia, 8.01; Australia, 7.99; and Estonia, 7.95.
    By James D. Gwartney, Robert A. Lawson, Joshua C. Hall, Ryan Murphy, Rosemarie Fike, Richard J. Grant, Fred McMahon, Indira de Soysa, & Krishna Chaitanya Vadlamannati
  • Economic Freedom of the World
    2016
    2016
    Global economic freedom increased slightly in this year’s report to 6.85. Hong Kong and Singapore retain the top two positions with a score of 9.03 and 8.71 out of 10, respectively. The rest of this year’s top scores are New Zealand, 8.35; Switzerland, 8.25; Canada, Georgia, Ireland, Mauritius, and the United Arab Emirates at 7.98; and Australia and the United Kingdom at 7.93.
    By James D. Gwartney, Robert A. Lawson, Joshua C. Hall, Ryan Murphy, Robbie Butler, John Considine, Hugo J. Faria, Rosemarie Fike, Fred McMahon, Hugo M. Montesinos‐​Yufa, Dean Stansel, & Meg Tuszynski
  • Economic Freedom of the World
    2015
    2015
    Global economic freedom increased slightly in this year’s report, but remains below its peak level of 6.92 in 2007. The average score increased to 6.86 in 2013, the most recent year for which data is available. In this year’s index, Hong Kong retains the highest rating for economic freedom, 8.97 out of 10. The rest of this year’s top scores are Singapore, 8.52; New Zealand, 8.19; Switzerland, 8.16; United Arab Emirates, 8.15; Mauritius, 8.08; Jordan, 7.93; Ireland, 7.90; Canada, 7.89; and the United Kingdom and Chile at 7.87.
    By James D. Gwartney, Robert A. Lawson, Joshua C. Hall, Ryan Murphy, Hans Pitlik, Dulce M. Redín, & Martin Rode
  • Economic Freedom of the World
    2014
    2014
    Global economic freedom fell slightly in this year’s report, and it remains well below its peak level of 6.92 in 2007. The average score fell to 6.84 in 2012, the most recent year for which data is available. In this year’s index, Hong Kong retains the highest rating for economic freedom, 8.98 out of 10. The rest of this year’s top scores are Singapore, 8.54; New Zealand, 8.25; Switzerland, 8.19; Mauritius, 8.09; United Arab Emirates, 8.05; Canada, 8.00; Australia, 7.87; Jordan, 7.86; and, tied for 10th at 7.84, Chile and Finland.
    By James D. Gwartney, Robert A. Lawson, Joshua C. Hall, Fred McMahon, Ryan Murphy, Indira de Soysa, & Krishna Chaitanya Vadlamannati
  • Economic Freedom of the World
    2013
    2013
    Global economic freedom increased modestly in this year’s report, though it remains below its peak level of 6.92 in 2007. After a global average drop between 2007 and 2009, the average score rose to 6.87 in 2011, the most recent year for which data is available. In this year’s index, Hong Kong retains the highest rating for economic freedom, 8.97 out of 10. The rest of this year’s top scores are Singapore, 8.73; New Zealand, 8.49; Switzerland, 8.30; United Arab Emirates, 8.07; Mauritius, 8.01; Finland, 7.98; Bahrain, 7.93; Canada, 7.93; and Australia, 7.88.
    By James D. Gwartney, Robert A. Lawson, Joshua C. Hall, Alice M. Crisp, Bodo Knoll, Hans Pitlik, & Martin Rode
  • Economic Freedom of the World
    2012
    2012
    Global economic freedom bounced back slightly in this year’s report. After falling for two consecutive years following a long trend of increases, the average score rose from 6.79 in 2009 to 6.83 in 2010, the most recent year for which data is available. In this year’s index, Hong Kong retains the highest rating for economic freedom, 8.90 out of 10 (down slightly from 9.01 last year). The rest of this year’s top scores are Singapore, 8.69; New Zealand, 8.36; Switzerland, 8.24; Australia, 7.97; Canada, 7.97; Bahrain, 7.94; Mauritius, 7.90. Finland, 7.88; and Chile, 7.84. Bahrain and Finland are new to the top 10 — replacing, notably, the United Kingdom (fell to 12th) and the United States (a sizable drop to 18th).
    By James D. Gwartney, Robert A. Lawson, Joshua C. Hall, Scott L. Baier, Christian Bjørnskov, Matthew Clance, Alice M. Crisp, Axel Dreher, Gerald P. Dwyer, Nicolai J. Foss, & Kai Gehring
  • Economic Freedom of the World
    2011
    2011
    This year’s report notes that economic freedom fell for the second consecutive year. The average economic freedom score rose from 5.53 (out of 10) in 1980 to 6.74 in 2007, but fell back to 6.64 in 2009, the most recent year for which data are available. In this year’s index, Hong Kong retains the highest rating for economic freedom, 9.01 out of 10, followed by Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Chile, the United Kingdom, and Mauritius. The world’s largest economy, the United States, has suffered one of the largest declines in economic freedom over the last 10 years, pushing it into tenth place. Much of this decline is a result of higher government spending and borrowing and lower scores for the legal structure and property rights components.
    By James D. Gwartney, Joshua C. Hall, Robert A. Lawson, Jean-Pierre Chauffour, & Michael D. Stroup
  • Economic Freedom of the World
    2010
    2010
    This year’s report notes that economic freedom suffered its first setback in decades. The average economic freedom score rose from 5.55 (out of 10) in 1980 to 6.70 in 2007, but fell back to 6.67 in 2008, the most recent year for which data are available. Of the 123 countries with chain-linked ratings in 2007 and 2008, 88 exhibited rating decreases and only 35 recorded rating increases. In this year?s index, Hong Kong retains the highest rating for economic freedom, 9.05 out of 10, followed by Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland, Chile, the United States, Canada, Australia, Mauritius, and the United Kingdom.
    By James D. Gwartney, Joshua C. Hall, Robert A. Lawson, Christopher J. Coyne, John W. Dawson, Horst Feldmann, John Levendis, Russell S. Sobel, & Edward Peter Stringham
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