2009 Index of Economic Freedom, Ranking the Countries
For over a decade, The Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation, Washington’s preeminent think tank, have tracked the march of economic freedom around the world with the influential Index of Economic Freedom.
What is economic freedom?
The highest form of economic freedom provides an absolute right of property ownership, fully realized freedoms of movement for labor, capital, and goods, and an absolute absence of coercion or constraint of economic liberty beyond the extent necessary for citizens to protect and maintain liberty itself. In other words, individuals are free to work, produce, consume, and invest in any way they please, and that freedom is both protected by the state and unconstrained by the state.
How do you measure economic freedom?
We measure 10 specific factors, and average them equally into a total score. Each one of the 10 freedoms is graded using a scale from 0 to 100, where 100 represents the maximum freedom. A score of 100 signifies an economic environment or set of policies that is most conducive to economic freedom.
Ranking the Countries
2009 Index of Economic Freedom
The Link Between Economic Opportunity & Prosperity
Ranking the Countries
| distribution of global economic freedom | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100-80 | 79.9-70 | 69.9-60 | 59.9-50 | 49.9-0 | N/A |
| free | mostly free | moderately free | mostly unfree | repressed | not ranked |
Index of Economic Freedom World Rankings
| world rankcountryfreedom scorechange from previous |
|---|
| 1Hong Kong90.0+0.3 | 62Albania63.7+1.3 | 123India54.4+0.3 |
| 2Singapore87.1-0.2 | 63Uganda63.5-0.3 | 124Rwanda54.20.0 |
| 3Australia82.6+0.4 | 64France63.3-1.4 | 125Suriname54.1-0.2 |
| 4Ireland82.2-0.3 | 65Romania63.2+1.5 | 126Tonga54.1N/A |
| 5New Zealand82.0+1.2 | 66Belize63.00.0 | 127Mauritania53.9-1.2 |
| 6United States80.7-0.3 | 67Thailand63.0+0.7 | 128Niger53.8+1.0 |
| 7Canada80.5+0.3 | 68Slovenia62.9+2.7 | 129Malawi53.7+1.1 |
| 8Denmark79.6+0.4 | 69Mongolia62.8-0.8 | 130Bolivia53.6+0.5 |
| 9Switzerland79.4-0.1 | 70Dominica62.6N/A | 131Indonesia53.4+0.2 |
| 10United Kingdom79.0-0.5 | 71Namibia62.4+1.0 | 132China53.2+0.1 |
| 11Chile78.3-0.3 | 72Colombia62.3+0.2 | 133Nepal53.2-0.9 |
| 12Netherlands77.0-0.4 | 73Madagascar62.2-0.2 | 134Bosnia and Herzegovina53.1-0.8 |
| 13Estonia76.4-1.5 | 74Kyrgyz Republic61.8+0.7 | 135Ethiopia53.0+0.5 |
| 14Iceland75.9+0.1 | 75Turkey61.6+1.6 | 136Cameroon53.0-1.3 |
| 15Luxembourg75.2+0.5 | 76Italy61.4-1.2 | 137Ecuador52.5-2.8 |
| 16Bahrain74.8+2.6 | 77Cape Verde61.3+3.4 | 138Argentina52.3-1.8 |
| 17Finland74.5-0.1 | 78Macedonia61.2+0.2 | 139Micronesia51.7N/A |
| 18Mauritius74.3+1.7 | 79Paraguay61.0+1.0 | 140Djibouti51.3+0.1 |
| 19Japan72.8-0.2 | 80Fiji61.0-0.8 | 141Syria51.3+4.2 |
| 20Belgium72.1+0.5 | 81Greece60.8+0.2 | 142Equatorial Guinea51.3-0.3 |
| 21Macau72.0N/A | 82Poland60.30.0 | 143Maldives51.3N/A |
| 22Barbados71.5+0.2 | 83Kazakhstan60.1-1.0 | 144Guinea51.0-1.8 |
| 23Austria71.2-0.2 | 84Nicaragua59.8-1.0 | 145Vietnam51.0+0.6 |
| 24Cyprus70.8-0.5 | 85Burkina Faso59.5+3.8 | 146Russia50.8+1.0 |
| 25Germany70.5-0.1 | 86Samoa59.5N/A | 147Haiti50.5+1.5 |
| 26Sweden70.5-0.4 | 87Guatemala59.4-0.4 | 148Uzbekistan50.5-1.4 |
| 27Bahamas, The70.3-0.8 | 88Dominican Republic59.2+1.5 | 149Timor-Leste50.5N/A |
| 28Norway70.2+1.6 | 89Swaziland59.1+0.6 | 150Laos50.4+0.1 |
| 29Spain70.1+1.0 | 90Kenya58.7-0.6 | 151Lesotho49.7-2.5 |
| 30Lithuania70.0-1.0 | 91Honduras58.7-0.2 | 152Ukraine48.8-2.2 |
| 31Armenia69.90.0 | 92Vanuatu58.4N/A | 153Burundi48.8+2.6 |
| 32Georgia69.8+0.5 | 93Tanzania58.3+1.8 | 154Togo48.7-0.2 |
| 33El Salvador69.8+1.3 | 94Montenegro58.2N/A | 155Guyana48.4-0.4 |
| 34Botswana69.7+1.5 | 95Lebanon58.1-1.9 | 156Central African Republic48.3-0.3 |
| 35Taiwan69.5-0.7 | 96Ghana58.1+1.0 | 157Liberia48.1N/A |
| 36Slovak Republic69.4-0.6 | 97Egypt58.0-0.5 | 158Sierra Leone47.8-0.5 |
| 37Czech Republic69.4+1.2 | 98Tunisia58.0-2.1 | 159Seychelles47.8N/A |
| 38Uruguay69.1+1.2 | 99Azerbaijan58.0+2.6 | 160Bangladesh47.5+3.3 |
| 39Saint Lucia68.8N/A | 100Bhutan57.7N/A | 161Chad47.5-0.4 |
| 40South Korea68.1-0.5 | 101Morocco57.7+2.1 | 162Angola47.0+0.1 |
| 41Trinidad and Tobago68.0-1.6 | 102Pakistan57.0+1.4 | 163Solomon Islands46.0N/A |
| 42Israel67.6+1.3 | 103Yemen56.9+3.1 | 164Kiribati45.7N/A |
| 43Oman67.0-0.3 | 104Philippines, The56.8+0.8 | 165Guinea-Bissau45.4+1.1 |
| 44Hungary66.8-0.8 | 105Brazil56.7+0.5 | 166Republic of Congo45.40.0 |
| 45Latvia66.6-1.7 | 106Cambodia56.6+0.8 | 167Belarus45.0-0.4 |
| 46Costa Rica66.4+2.2 | 107Algeria56.6+0.4 | 168Iran44.6-0.4 |
| 47Malta66.1+0.1 | 108Zambia56.6+0.4 | 169Turkmenistan44.2+0.8 |
| 48Qatar65.8+3.6 | 109Serbia56.6N/A | 170São Tomé and Príncipe43.8N/A |
| 49Mexico65.8-0.3 | 110Senegal56.3-2.0 | 171Libya43.5+4.8 |
| 50Kuwait65.6-2.5 | 111Sri Lanka56.0-2.4 | 172Comoros43.3N/A |
| 51Jordan65.4+1.3 | 112Gambia, The55.8-1.1 | 173Democratic Republic of Congo42.8N/A |
| 52Jamaica65.2-0.5 | 113Mozambique55.7+0.2 | 174Venezuela39.9-4.8 |
| 53Portugal64.9+1.0 | 114Mali55.6+0.1 | 175Eritrea38.5N/A |
| 54United Arab Emirates64.7+2.2 | 115Benin55.4+0.1 | 176Burma37.7-1.8 |
| 55Panama64.70.0 | 116Croatia55.1+1.0 | 177Cuba27.9+0.4 |
| 56Bulgaria64.6+0.9 | 117Nigeria55.10.0 | 178Zimbabwe22.7-6.7 |
| 57Peru64.6+0.9 | 118Gabon55.0+0.9 | 179North Korea2.0-1.0 |
| 58Malaysia64.6+0.7 | 119Côte d’Ivoire55.0+1.0 | N/AAfghanistanN/AN/A |
| 59Saudi Arabia64.3+1.8 | 120Moldova54.9-3.0 | N/AIraqN/AN/A |
| 60Saint Vincent and the Grenadines64.3N/A | 121Papua New Guinea54.8N/A | N/ALiechtensteinN/AN/A |
| 61South Africa63.8+0.4 | 122Tajikistan54.6+0.2 | N/ASudanN/AN/A |
Filed under: Burma
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