Visualizing The State Of Economic Freedom Around The World In 2023

Economic freedom 2023 MAIN 1The USA used to be #1. Now we’re #25 and falling further. 

Mapped: The State of Economic Freedom in 2023

The concept of economic freedom serves as a vital framework for evaluating the extent to which individuals and businesses have the freedom to make economic decisions. In countries with low economic freedom, governments exert coercion and constraints on liberties, restricting choice for individuals and businesses, which can ultimately hinder prosperity.

The map above uses the annual Index of Economic Freedom from the Heritage Foundation to showcase the level of economic freedom in every country worldwide on a scale of 0-100, looking at factors like property rights, tax burdens, labor freedom, and so on.

The ranking categorizing scores of 80+ as free economies, 70-79.9 as mostly free, 60-69.9 as moderately free, 50-59.9 as mostly unfree, and 0-49.9 as repressed.

Measuring Economic Freedom

This ranking uses four broad categories with three key indicators each, both qualitative and quantitative, to measure economic freedom.

  1. Rule of law: property rights, judicial effectiveness, government integrity
  2. Size of government: tax burdens, fiscal health, government spending
  3. Regulatory efficiency: labor freedom, monetary freedom, business freedom
  4. Open markets: financial freedom, trade freedom, investment freedom

The 12 indicators are weighted equally and scored from 0-100. The overall score is then determined from the average of the 12 indicators.

Here’s a closer look at every country’s score:

Rank Country 2023 Score
#1 🇸🇬 Singapore 83.9
#2 🇨🇭 Switzerland 83.8
#3 🇮🇪 Ireland 82.0
#4 🇹🇼 Taiwan 80.7
#5 🇳🇿 New Zealand 78.9
#6 🇪🇪 Estonia 78.6
#7 🇱🇺 Luxembourg 78.4
#8 🇳🇱 Netherlands 78.0
#9 🇩🇰 Denmark 77.6
#10 🇸🇪 Sweden 77.5
#11 🇫🇮 Finland 77.1
#12 🇳🇴 Norway 76.9
#13 🇦🇺 Australia 74.8
#14 🇩🇪 Germany 73.7
#15 🇰🇷 South Korea 73.7
#16 🇨🇦 Canada 73.7
#17 🇱🇻 Latvia 72.8
#18 🇨🇾 Cyprus 72.3
#19 🇮🇸 Iceland 72.2
#20 🇱🇹 Lithuania 72.2
#21 🇨🇿 Czechia 71.9
#22 🇨🇱 Chile 71.1
#23 🇦🇹 Austria 71.1
#24 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates 70.9
#25 🇺🇸 United States 70.6
#26 🇲🇺 Mauritius 70.6
#27 🇺🇾 Uruguay 70.2
#28 🇬🇧 United Kingdom 69.9
#29 🇧🇧 Barbados 69.8
#30 🇵🇹 Portugal 69.5
#31 🇯🇵 Japan 69.3
#32 🇧🇬 Bulgaria 69.3
#33 🇸🇰 Slovakia 69.0
#34 🇮🇱 Israel 68.9
#35 🇬🇪 Georgia 68.7
#36 🇶🇦 Qatar 68.6
#37 🇸🇮 Slovenia 68.5
#38 🇼🇸 Samoa 68.3
#39 🇯🇲 Jamaica 68.1
#40 🇵🇱 Poland 67.7
#41 🇲🇹 Malta 67.5
#42 🇲🇾 Malaysia 67.3
#43 🇧🇪 Belgium 67.1
#44 🇵🇪 Peru 66.5
#45 🇨🇷 Costa Rica 66.5
#46 🇭🇷 Croatia 66.4
#47 🇨🇻 Cabo Verde 65.8
#48 🇧🇳 Brunei Darussalam 65.7
#49 🇦🇱 Albania 65.3
#50 🇦🇲 Armenia 65.1
#51 🇪🇸 Spain 65.0
#52 🇧🇼 Botswana 64.9
#53 🇷🇴 Romania 64.5
#54 🇭🇺 Hungary 64.1
#55 🇵🇦 Panama 63.8
#56 🇲🇰 North Macedonia 63.7
#57 🇫🇷 France 63.6
#58 🇷🇸 Serbia 63.5
#59 🇻🇨 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 63.5
#60 🇮🇩 Indonesia 63.5
#61 🇲🇽 Mexico 63.2
#62 🇨🇴 Colombia 63.1
#63 🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina 62.9
#64 🇬🇹 Guatemala 62.7
#65 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic 62.6
#66 🇧🇸 The Bahamas 62.6
#67 🇫🇲 Micronesia 62.6
#68 🇧🇭 Bahrain 62.5
#69 🇮🇹 Italy 62.3
#70 🇻🇺 Vanuatu 62.1
#71 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan 62.1
#72 🇻🇳 Vietnam 61.8
#73 🇲🇳 Mongolia 61.7
#74 🇸🇹 São Tomé and Príncipe 61.5
#75 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan 61.4
#76 🇵🇾 Paraguay 61.0
#77 🇲🇪 Montenegro 60.9
#78 🇽🇰 Kosovo 60.7
#79 🇱🇨 Saint Lucia 60.7
#80 🇹🇭 Thailand 60.6
#81 🇨🇮 Côte d’Ivoire 60.4
#82 🇹🇴 Tonga 60.0
#83 🇹🇿 Tanzania 60.0
#84 🇧🇯 Benin 59.8
#85 🇧🇿 Belize 59.8
#86 🇩🇲 Dominica 59.7
#87 🇸🇨 Seychelles 59.5
#88 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago 59.5
#89 🇵🇭 Philippines 59.3
#90 🇧🇹 Bhutan 59.0
#91 🇲🇬 Madagascar 58.9
#92 🇰🇮 Kiribati 58.8
#93 🇯🇴 Jordan 58.8
#94 🇭🇳 Honduras 58.7
#95 🇴🇲 Oman 58.5
#96 🇲🇩 Moldova 58.5
#97 🇲🇦 Morocco 58.4
#98 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia 58.3
#99 🇬🇭 Ghana 58.0
#100 🇫🇯 Fiji 58.0
#101 🇬🇲 The Gambia 57.9
#102 🇳🇦 Namibia 57.7
#103 🇸🇳 Senegal 57.7
#104 🇹🇷 Türkiye 56.9
#105 🇬🇾 Guyana 56.9
#106 🇬🇷 Greece 56.9
#107 🇸🇧 Solomon Islands 56.9
#108 🇰🇼 Kuwait 56.7
#109 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan 56.5
#110 🇰🇭 Cambodia 56.5
#111 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso 56.2
#112 🇬🇦 Gabon 56.1
#113 🇩🇯 Djibouti 56.1
#114 🇸🇻 El Salvador 56.0
#115 🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan 55.8
#116 🇿🇦 South Africa 55.7
#117 🇲🇷 Mauritania 55.3
#118 🇹🇬 Togo 55.3
#119 🇪🇨 Ecuador 55.0
#120 🇸🇿 Eswatini 54.9
#121 🇳🇮 Nicaragua 54.9
#122 🇲🇱 Mali 54.5
#123 🇧🇩 Bangladesh 54.4
#124 🇳🇬 Nigeria 53.9
#125 🇷🇺 Russia 53.8
#126 🇳🇪 Niger 53.7
#127 🇧🇷 Brazil 53.5
#128 🇰🇲 Comoros 53.5
#129 🇬🇳 Guinea 53.2
#130 🇦🇴 Angola 53.0
#131 🇮🇳 India 52.9
#132 🇹🇳 Tunisia 52.9
#133 🇲🇼 Malawi 52.8
#134 🇲🇿 Mozambique 52.5
#135 🇰🇪 Kenya 52.5
#136 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka 52.2
#137 🇷🇼 Rwanda 52.2
#138 🇹🇩 Chad 52.0
#139 🇨🇲 Cameroon 51.9
#140 🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea 51.7
#141 🇱🇸 Lesotho 51.6
#142 🇳🇵 Nepal 51.4
#143 🇺🇬 Uganda 51.4
#144 🇦🇷 Argentina 51.0
#145 🇧🇾 Belarus 51.0
#146 🇹🇯 Tajikistan 50.6
#147 🇱🇦 Laos 50.3
#148 🇸🇱 Sierra Leone 50.2
#149 🇭🇹 Haiti 49.9
#150 🇱🇷 Liberia 49.6
#151 🇪🇬 Egypt 49.6
#152 🇵🇰 Pakistan 49.4
#153 🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea 48.3
#154 🇨🇳 China 48.3
#155 🇪🇹 Ethiopia 48.3
#156 🇨🇬 Congo 48.1
#157 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo 47.9
#158 🇿🇲 Zambia 47.8
#159 🇹🇱 Timor-Leste 47.2
#160 🇲🇻 Maldives 46.6
#161 🇹🇲 Turkmenistan 46.5
#162 🇲🇲 Myanmar 46.5
#163 🇸🇷 Suriname 46.1
#164 🇱🇧 Lebanon 45.6
#165 🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau 44.6
#166 🇨🇫 Central African Republic 43.8
#167 🇧🇴 Bolivia 43.4
#168 🇩🇿 Algeria 43.2
#169 🇮🇷 Iran 42.2
#170 🇧🇮 Burundi 41.9
#171 🇪🇷 Eritrea 39.5
#172 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe 39.0
#173 🇸🇩 Sudan 32.8
#174 🇻🇪 Venezuela 25.8
#175 🇨🇺 Cuba 24.3
#176 🇰🇵 North Korea 2.9
– 🇮🇶 Iraq N/A
– 🇱🇾 Libya N/A
– 🇱🇮 Liechtenstein N/A
– Afghanistan N/A

Only four countries in the world have a score of 80 or above, Ireland, Singapore, Switzerland, and Taiwan, categorizing them as completely free economically.