Political Ideologies
Libertarian Countries 2025
Country | Human Freedom Index 2022↓ | Personal Freedom Score 2022 | Economic Freedom Score 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Thailand | 9.14 | 6.48 | 6.78 |
 | Switzerland | 9.14 | 9.65 | 8.37 |
 | New Zealand | 9.08 | 9.58 | 8.27 |
 | Denmark | 9.04 | 9.77 | 8.09 |
 | Luxembourg | 8.93 | 9.61 | 7.54 |
 | Ireland | 8.91 | 9.54 | 7.86 |
 | Finland | 8.84 | 9.53 | 7.64 |
 | Tanzania | 8.8 | 6.37 | 6.55 |
 | Australia | 8.8 | 9.38 | 8.04 |
 | Sweden | 8.8 | 9.66 | 7.56 |
 | Iceland | 8.8 | 9.49 | 7.73 |
 | Estonia | 8.78 | 9.56 | 7.95 |
 | Canada | 8.74 | 9.28 | 7.81 |
 | Japan | 8.73 | 9.31 | 7.82 |
 | Norway | 8.73 | 9.56 | 7.58 |
 | Germany | 8.67 | 9.3 | 7.65 |
 | Netherlands | 8.66 | 9.33 | 7.75 |
 | Czechia | 8.66 | 9.39 | 7.75 |
 | United States | 8.64 | 9.04 | 7.97 |
 | United Kingdom | 8.64 | 9.18 | 7.71 |
 | Taiwan | 8.61 | 9.26 | 7.68 |
 | Togo | 8.61 | 6.5 | 6.19 |
 | Portugal | 8.57 | 9.27 | 7.43 |
 | Latvia | 8.49 | 9.18 | 7.77 |
 | Austria | 8.48 | 9.1 | 7.56 |
 | Malta | 8.48 | 8.96 | 7.72 |
 | Belgium | 8.47 | 9.21 | 7.37 |
 | Lithuania | 8.38 | 9.01 | 7.82 |
 | Spain | 8.34 | 8.91 | 7.63 |
 | Cape Verde | 8.29 | 8.95 | 7.6 |
 | Italy | 8.26 | 9 | 7.4 |
 | Slovenia | 8.26 | 9.05 | 7 |
 | Cyprus | 8.25 | 8.77 | 7.49 |
 | Chile | 8.24 | 8.81 | 7.56 |
 | South Korea | 8.23 | 8.75 | 7.42 |
 | Costa Rica | 8.23 | 8.68 | 7.62 |
 | France | 8.21 | 8.72 | 7.33 |
 | Slovakia | 8.2 | 8.78 | 7.33 |
 | Uruguay | 8.19 | 9.01 | 7.06 |
 | Romania | 8.03 | 8.47 | 7.74 |
 | Seychelles | 8.01 | 8.74 | 7.01 |
 | Panama | 8 | 8.27 | 7.45 |
 | Croatia | 8 | 8.66 | 7.16 |
 | Albania | 7.92 | 8.22 | 7.64 |
 | Armenia | 7.91 | 8.21 | 7.84 |
 | Dominican Republic | 7.85 | 8.23 | 7.36 |
 | Singapore | 7.85 | 7.35 | 8.48 |
 | Bahamas | 7.82 | 8.66 | 7.02 |
 | Jamaica | 7.8 | 8.15 | 7.38 |
 | Bulgaria | 7.77 | 8.21 | 7.69 |
 | Montenegro | 7.77 | 8.22 | 7.46 |
 | Barbados | 7.75 | 8.42 | 7.01 |
 | Hong Kong | 7.73 | 7.12 | 8.59 |
 | Poland | 7.72 | 8.34 | 6.93 |
 | Georgia | 7.7 | 7.72 | 7.78 |
 | Mauritius | 7.66 | 7.57 | 7.88 |
 | Peru | 7.62 | 7.77 | 7.5 |
 | Mongolia | 7.61 | 8.14 | 7.3 |
 | North Macedonia | 7.61 | 8.24 | 7.16 |
 | Greece | 7.58 | 8.1 | 6.81 |
 | Israel | 7.54 | 7.62 | 7.35 |
 | Namibia | 7.48 | 8.37 | 6.57 |
 | Belize | 7.48 | 8.53 | 6.23 |
 | Botswana | 7.46 | 8.02 | 7.35 |
 | Hungary | 7.44 | 7.67 | 7.24 |
 | Moldova | 7.43 | 8.11 | 7.05 |
 | Suriname | 7.29 | 8.6 | 5.81 |
 | Paraguay | 7.24 | 7.43 | 6.96 |
 | Guatemala | 7.21 | 7.04 | 7.59 |
 | Fiji | 7.19 | 8.04 | 6.53 |
 | Brazil | 7.18 | 7.62 | 6.33 |
 | Papua New Guinea | 7.17 | 7.99 | 6.17 |
 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 7.15 | 7.81 | 6.72 |
 | South Africa | 7.1 | 7.42 | 6.55 |
 | El Salvador | 7.1 | 7.16 | 7.12 |
 | Serbia | 7.08 | 7.36 | 6.82 |
 | Ghana | 7.07 | 7.86 | 6.49 |
 | Malaysia | 7.06 | 6.7 | 7.35 |
 | Ecuador | 6.99 | 7.59 | 6.51 |
 | Colombia | 6.95 | 7.25 | 6.55 |
 | Argentina | 6.93 | 8.63 | 4.87 |
 | Benin | 6.93 | 7.4 | 6.51 |
 | Guyana | 6.91 | 7.85 | 5.82 |
 | Nepal | 6.9 | 7.16 | 6.54 |
 | Honduras | 6.9 | 6.88 | 7.04 |
 | Bolivia | 6.88 | 7.44 | 6.15 |
 | Malawi | 6.85 | 7.84 | 5.98 |
 | Indonesia | 6.82 | 6.73 | 7.09 |
 | Senegal | 6.73 | 7.25 | 6.05 |
 | Gambia | 6.71 | 6.6 | 7.23 |
 | Bhutan | 6.7 | 7.03 | 6.49 |
 | Lesotho | 6.69 | 7.22 | 6.52 |
 | Madagascar | 6.67 | 7.19 | 6.1 |
 | Mexico | 6.66 | 6.47 | 7.12 |
 | Zambia | 6.66 | 7.02 | 6.56 |
 | Kenya | 6.62 | 6.48 | 6.96 |
 | Ivory Coast | 6.6 | 7.1 | 6.01 |
 | Kyrgyzstan | 6.57 | 6.6 | 6.97 |
 | Philippines | 6.54 | 6.21 | 7.09 |
 | Liberia | 6.52 | 6.99 | 6.51 |
 | Jordan | 6.48 | 5.87 | 7.37 |
 | Guinea-Bissau | 6.43 | 7.22 | 5.64 |
 | Mozambique | 6.41 | 6.8 | 6.27 |
 | Kazakhstan | 6.38 | 6.01 | 7.35 |
 | Sierra Leone | 6.34 | 6.87 | 5.98 |
 | Gabon | 6.32 | 7.06 | 5.72 |
 | Burkina Faso | 6.31 | 6.61 | 6.15 |
 | India | 6.26 | 6.03 | 6.72 |
 | Niger | 6.26 | 6.66 | 5.97 |
 | Haiti | 6.15 | 6.4 | 6.57 |
 | Cambodia | 6.14 | 5.63 | 7.13 |
 | Sri Lanka | 6.11 | 6.28 | 6.72 |
 | Kuwait | 6.1 | 5.84 | 6.73 |
 | Tunisia | 5.97 | 5.99 | 6.09 |
 | Lebanon | 5.96 | 6.39 | 5.45 |
 | Uganda | 5.92 | 5.32 | 7.18 |
 | United Arab Emirates | 5.9 | 4.85 | 7.35 |
 | Brunei | 5.88 | 5.09 | 7.21 |
 | Rwanda | 5.87 | 5.45 | 6.9 |
 | Ukraine | 5.84 | 6.36 | 6.11 |
 | Mali | 5.75 | 5.84 | 5.85 |
 | Angola | 5.74 | 6.42 | 5.91 |
 | Oman | 5.62 | 5.07 | 6.65 |
 | Nigeria | 5.61 | 5.37 | 6.7 |
 | Azerbaijan | 5.54 | 5.36 | 6.21 |
 | Bahrain | 5.53 | 4.11 | 7.47 |
 | Bangladesh | 5.52 | 5.29 | 5.89 |
 | Morocco | 5.49 | 4.81 | 6.55 |
 | Djibouti | 5.49 | 4.97 | 6.21 |
 | Vietnam | 5.43 | 4.85 | 6.42 |
 | Comoros | 5.43 | 5.34 | 6.31 |
 | Mauritania | 5.41 | 5.05 | 6.13 |
 | Qatar | 5.41 | 4.49 | 6.99 |
 | Pakistan | 5.4 | 5.25 | 6.03 |
 | Republic of the Congo | 5.4 | 5.76 | 5.08 |
 | Tajikistan | 5.38 | 4.61 | 6.6 |
 | Trinidad and Tobago | 5.38 | 8.23 | 7.01 |
 | Russia | 5.35 | 4.94 | 6.62 |
 | Belarus | 5.32 | 4.85 | 6.83 |
 | DR Congo | 5.29 | 5.49 | 5.36 |
 | Turkey | 5.28 | 5.06 | 6.48 |
 | Nicaragua | 5.27 | 4.44 | 6.84 |
 | Cameroon | 5.26 | 5.01 | 5.76 |
 | Central African Republic | 5.18 | 5.37 | 5.4 |
 | Ethiopia | 5.16 | 5.1 | 5.58 |
 | Guinea | 5.16 | 4.83 | 5.84 |
 | Laos | 5.15 | 4.64 | 6.5 |
 | Eswatini | 5.11 | 4.9 | 5.76 |
 | China | 4.93 | 4.07 | 6.27 |
 | Libya | 4.92 | 5.11 | 4.95 |
 | Burundi | 4.88 | 4.65 | 5.67 |
 | Zimbabwe | 4.87 | 5.82 | 4.48 |
 | Chad | 4.81 | 4.63 | 5.55 |
 | Saudi Arabia | 4.8 | 3.2 | 6.78 |
 | Iraq | 4.71 | 4.32 | 5.51 |
 | Algeria | 4.7 | 4.88 | 5.12 |
 | Somalia | 4.67 | 3.75 | 6.03 |
 | Venezuela | 4.18 | 5.01 | 3.32 |
 | Egypt | 4.17 | 3.32 | 5.61 |
 | Sudan | 4.05 | 4 | 4.21 |
 | Myanmar | 3.97 | 3.57 | 5.93 |
 | Iran | 3.96 | 3.48 | 4.96 |
 | Yemen | 3.78 | 3.14 | 5.67 |
 | Syria | 3.1 | 2.25 | 4.63 |
 | Timor-Leste | 3.1 | 8.47 | 5.94 |
| Average | 6.82 |
- Libertarianism generally values personal liberty and minimal government. The CATO Institute’s Human Freedom Index (HFI), which tracks these same qualities, is frequently used as a measure of a country’s libertarianism.
- The Human Freedom Index compiles dozens of distinct indicators (86 in 2023) into two sub-indexes: Personal Freedom and Economic Freedom, then combines the two into one unified Human Freedom score.
- The Human Freedom Index delivers data with a two-year processing time. For example, the 2023 HFI covered data from 2021, while the 2024 HFI covered data from 2022.
Libertarianism is a philosophy centered on liberty. People that believe in these philosophies are known as libertarians, and libertarians believe in political freedom and freedom of choice. Libertarians believe that a person should be able to use their judgment when it comes to choices in their own life. In other words, a person would be able to make their own choices without government interference.
Throughout the world, some nations show signs of libertarianism. For example, in many nations around the world, marijuana has been legalized or at least decriminalized. However, there are no true libertarian countries. The nations that have legalized marijuana, for example, may have very high taxes or laws that restrict other activities, such as prostitution.
Since there are no true libertarian countries, but several countries have libertarian ideals. The United States has the Libertarian Party (LP), which has the slogan “Minimum government, maximum freedom.” Because U.S. states have control over many of their own laws and regulations, some states are considered more libertarian than others. The most libertarian U.S. states are Florida, New Hampshire, and Indiana. One such nation is England. After leaving the European Union, the nation no longer has a higher government than its own federal government. England no longer has to pay taxes and tariffs imposed by the EU, but other regulations, such as drugs, are illegal. Several nations do not impose income taxes on its citizens. This includes Andorra, which has no income tax for individuals or companies, and Monaco, known as a “tax haven” for its lack of income tax.
If you live in a country like the United States, prostitution is illegal. However, it is legal in some nations. In Germany, for example, brothels are regulated by the government, must obtain licenses, and pay taxes. The Netherlands also has legal prostitution and has become known for its red-light district. In some nations, drugs are also legal or decriminalized. In Portugal, possessing any drug for personal use has been criminalized. Portugal also has government-funded therapy programs to help drug addicts. In North Korea, marijuana and opium are not considered drugs. However, the use of other drugs could result in severe penalties, including death.
