The Human Freedom Index 2024

The Human Freedom Index 2024 When people are freer, they are allowed to make more of their own choices. Governments can either prevent individual choice by limiting what people are allowed to do with their persons and property, or it can safeguard individual choice by protecting people, their property, and their decisions. The Human Freedom Index measures the degree of freedom in 165 countries using 86 indicators of economic and personal freedom. It includes data from 2000 through 2022. After having fallen significantly in 2020 and further in 2021, human freedom increased in 2022 but remained well below its pre-pandemic level. 87.4 per cent of the world’s population lost freedom from 2019 to 2022. Just 14.1 per cent of the world’s population lives in the top 25 per cent of freest jurisdictions while 43 per cent live in the bottom 25 per cent. The freest place on Earth is Switzerland, followed by New Zealand; Denmark; Luxembourg; Ireland; Finland; Australia, Iceland and Sweden (tied at 7); and Estonia. Canada ranks 11th and the UK and US are tied for 17th place. While many find human freedom valuable for its own sake, freedom also correlates with other good outcomes. Comparing the freest 25 per cent of countries with the least-free: Median earners make 5 times as much income, People report they are 30 percent more satisfied with their lives, Scientists and inventors are more productive, Environments are cleaner, Governments are less corrupt, People are more tolerant and charitable, and Extreme poverty, child mortality, and deaths from conflict are far less common.