The 11th annual Human Freedom Index is the most comprehensive measure of freedom ever created for many countries around the globe. The index, co-published by the Cato Institute and the Fraser Institute in Canada, ranks 165 countries using 87 distinct indicators across 12 categories, including rule of law, security and safety, freedom of movement, religion, expression and information, association and assembly, relationship freedoms, and economic freedoms. Most areas of freedom declined during the pandemic period, with continued significant drops in freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, and notable reductions in freedom of movement and sound money.
Human freedom deteriorated severely in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and remained low four years after the outbreak of the disease. Most areas of freedom fell, including significant continued declines in freedom of expression and freedom of association and assembly, and significant declines in freedom of movement and in sound money. After having fallen significantly in 2020 and further in 2021, global human freedom increased somewhat in 2022 but remained unchanged in 2023 and was still well below its pre-pandemic level. On a scale of 0 to 10, where 10 represents more freedom, the average human freedom rating for 165 jurisdictions fell from 6.97 in 2019 to 6.75 in 2020 and 6.72 in 2021, then increased to 6.81 in 2022 and remained at that level in 2023.
