Freest Countries 2019
Economic freedom is defined as the ability to become prosperous within a country without interference from the government or economic authority. In other words, countries with economic freedom allow their citizens to obtain and protect labor, human resources, and property.
There are two different lists that rank the freest countries in the world based on economic freedom. The first is the Index of Economic Freedom, which was created by The Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation.
Another list is the annual survey known as Economic Freedom of the World. This is published by the think tank Fraser Institute.
As of November 2018, Hong Kong topped the Index of Economic Freedom with a score of 90.1. Singapore was ranked second with a score of 89.4. Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, and Canada were the only other nations to score over 80 points.
According to this list, the top 20 freest countries in the world are:
- Hong Kong
- Singapore
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Switzerland
- Canada
- Chile
- Mauritius
- Denmark
- United States
- Ireland
- Bahrain
- Estonia
- United Kingdom
- Luxembourg
- Finland
- Netherlands
- Sweden
- Germany
- Taiwan
As of November 2018, the 2017 Economic Freedom of the World Index also ranked Hong Kong as number one with a score of 90.2. Singapore was also ranked as the second freest country in the world. After this, the order of the nations is different from the Index of Economic Freedom. New Zealand, Switzerland, Australia, and Ireland were the only other nations to receive a score above 80.
The top 20 nations based on this ranked list are:
- Hong Kong
- Singapore
- New Zealand
- Switzerland
- Australia
- Ireland
- Estonia
- United Kingdom
- Canada
- United Arab Emirates
- Iceland
- Denmark
- Taiwan
- Luxembourg
- Sweden
- Georgia
- Netherlands
- United States
- Lithuania
- Chile