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Human Freedom Index

The Human Freedom Index presents the state of human freedom in the world based on a broad measure that encompasses personal, civil, and economic freedom. Human freedom is a social concept that recognizes the dignity of individuals and is defined here as negative liberty or the absence of coercive constraint. Because freedom is inherently valuable and plays a role in human progress, it is worth measuring carefully. The Human Freedom Index is a resource that can help to more objectively observe relationships between freedom and other social and economic phenomena, as well as the ways in which the various dimensions of freedom interact with one another.

The report is co‐​published by the Cato Institute and the Fraser Institute.

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  • Human Freedom Index
    2024
    2024
    After having fallen significantly in 2020 and further in 2021, human freedom increased in 2022 but remained well below its pre-pandemic level.
    By Ian Vásquez, Matthew D. Mitchell, Ryan Murphy, & Guillermina Sutter Schneider
  • Human Freedom Index
    2023
    2023
    Global freedom continued to decline in the second year of the pandemic, affecting 90% of the world’s population from 2019 to 2021.
    By Ian Vásquez, Fred McMahon, Ryan Murphy, & Guillermina Sutter Schneider
  • Human Freedom Index
    2022
    2022
    On a scale of 0 to 10, where 10 represents more freedom, the average human freedom rating for the 165 jurisdictions fell from 7.03 in 2019 to 6.81 in 2020. Most areas of freedom fell, including significant declines in the rule of law and freedom of movement, expression, association and assembly, and freedom to trade.
    By Ian Vásquez, Fred McMahon, Ryan Murphy, & Guillermina Sutter Schneider
  • Human Freedom Index
    2021
    2021
    On a scale of 0 to 10, where 10 represents more freedom, the average human freedom rating for 165 jurisdictions in 2019 was 7.12. Among the 162 jurisdictions for which we have data for 2018 and 2019, the overall level of freedom (weighing all jurisdictions equally) remained unchanged, with 82 jurisdictions decreasing their ratings and 67 improving.
    By Ian Vásquez, Fred McMahon, Ryan Murphy, & Guillermina Sutter Schneider
  • Human Freedom Index
    2020
    2020
    On a scale of 0 to 10, where 10 represents more freedom, the average human freedom rating for 162 countries in 2018 was 6.93. Among countries included in this year’s and last year’s report, the level of freedom scarcely improved (0.01) compared with 2017, with 87 countries increasing their ratings and 70 decreasing. Since 2008, the level of global freedom has decreased slightly (−0.04), with 70 countries in the index increasing their ratings and 70 decreasing.
    By Ian Vásquez and Fred McMahon
  • Human Freedom Index
    2019
    2019
    On a scale of 0 to 10, where 10 represents more freedom, the average human freedom rating for 162 countries in 2017 was 6.89. Among countries included in this year’s and last year’s report, the level of freedom decreased slightly (−0.01) compared with 2016, with 70 countries increasing their ratings and 88 decreasing. Since 2008, the level of global freedom has also decreased slightly (−0.07), with 61 countries in the index increasing their ratings and 79 decreasing.
    By Ian Vásquez and Tanja Porčnik
  • Human Freedom Index
    2018
    2018
    The HFI is the most comprehensive freedom index so far created for a globally meaningful set of countries. The HFI covers 162 countries for 2016, the most recent year for which sufficient data are available and it includes three countries—Belarus, Iraq, and Sudan—that were added this year. The index ranks countries beginning in 2008, the earliest year for which a robust enough index could be produced.
    By Ian Vásquez and Tanja Porčnik
  • Human Freedom Index
    2017
    2017
    The HFI is the most comprehensive freedom index so far created for a globally meaningful set of countries. The HFI covers 159 countries for 2015, the most recent year for which sufficient data are available. The index ranks countries beginning in 2008, the earliest year for which a robust enough index could be produced.
    By Ian Vásquez and Tanja Porčnik
  • Human Freedom Index
    2016
    2016
    The Human Freedom Index (HFI) is the most comprehensive freedom index so far created for a globally meaningful set of countries. The HFI covers 159 countries for 2014, the most recent year for which sufficient data are available. The index ranks countries beginning in 2008, the earliest year for which a robust enough index could be produced.
    By Ian Vásquez and Tanja Porčnik
  • Human Freedom Index
    2015
    2015
    The Human Freedom Index (HFI) is the most comprehensive freedom index so far created for a globally meaningful set of countries. The HFI covers 152 countries for 2012, the most recent year for which sufficient data is available. The index ranks countries beginning in 2008, the earliest year for which a robust enough index could be produced. This preliminary report was updated (using data for 2013) and will be subsequently presented and updated on a yearly basis.
    By Ian Vásquez and Tanja Porčnik
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