- The annual index published in Economic Freedom of the World measures the degree to which people in 165 jurisdictions around the globe are allowed to make their own economic choices.
- In the year with the most recent data (2022), the most-economically free jurisdictions were Hong Kong (1st), Singapore (2nd), Switzerland (3rd), New Zealand (4th), the United States (5th), Denmark and Ireland (tied for 6th), Canada (8th), and Australia and Luxembourg (tied for 9th).
- Averaging across all countries, global economic freedom increased from 2000 to 2019, but declined in each of the three years since then, erasing more than a decade of gains.
- Compared with the 25 percent least-economically free places, in the freest places:
- GDP per person is 7.6 times greater;
- the poorest 10 percent earn eight times as much;
- the average person lives 16 years longer and is 40 percent more satisfied with his or her life;
- youth literacy is nearly universal and there is no gap between boys and girls;
- environments are cleaner; and
- people are more tolerant of other genders, minorities, and immigrants.
- Conversely, compared with the top 25 percent, in the 25 percent least economically-free countries:
- the infant mortality rate is nine times greater;
- extreme poverty is 30 times as common;
- two-and-a-half times as many children work;
- corruption is higher; and
- only 78 percent of girls aged 15 to 24 are literate.
Authors
James Gwartney, Robert A. Lawson, Ryan Murphy, Matthew D. Mitchell, Kevin Grier, Robin Grier, Daniel J. Mitchell
Related Organizations
- Pages
- 2
- Published in
- Canada
Files
Table of Contents
- In 2014 Canada ranked 71 in the world for the size of government its best historic ranking on this measure where higher rankings indicate lower taxation and less spending. 1
- In fact Canadians have less economic freedom today than they did in the late-1970s. 1
- Canadians should understand that lower levels of economic freedom depress investment hamper economic growth and lead to less economic opportunity for workers Mitchell said. 1
- The rankings of other major countries include Japan 11 the UK 12 Germany 16 Taiwan 19 Korea 32 France 36 Italy 51 Mexico 65 India 84 Brazil 85 China 104 and Russia 119 . 1
- The 10 lowest-ranked countries are Yemen 156 Libya 157 Iran 158 Argentina 159 Myanmar 160 Algeria 161 Syria 162 Sudan 163 Zimbabwe 164 and Venezuela 165 1
- People living in countries with high levels of economic freedom enjoy greater prosperity more political and civil liberties and longer lives. 1
- For example per-person GDP in countries in the top quartile of economic freedom was US52877 in 2022 compared to US6968 for bottom quartile countries. 1
- And poverty rates are lower. In the top quartile 1 per cent of the population experienced extreme poverty living on less than US2.15 per day compared to 30 per cent in the lowest quartile. 1
- Finally life expectancy is 80.5 years in the top quartile of countries compared to 64.9 years in the bottom quartile. 2
- Where people are free to pursue their own opportunities and make their own choices they lead more prosperous happier and healthier lives Mitchell said. 2
