This is the 31st edition of Economic Freedom of the World and this year’s publication ranks 165 countries and territories for 2024, the most recent year for which data are available.
Despite a precipitous decline in economic freedom since 2018, Hong Kong remained the world’s most economically free jurisdiction in 2024. It was followed by Switzerland (2nd), Singapore (3rd), New Zealand (4th), and the United States (5th).
Canada has now slipped from 9th to 18th, just ahead of Germany at 19th. The United Kingdom is 10th, Japan is 13th, France is 39th, Italy is 47th, South Korea is 53rd, Indonesia is 72nd, Mexico is 77th, Brazil is 85th, India is 88th, China is 110th, and Russia is 143rd. The 10 lowest-rated countries are: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Malawi, Algeria, Iran, Myanmar, Libya, Sudan, Zimbabwe, and Venezuela in last place.
Overall, the index shows that global economic freedom fell following the pandemic as policymakers imposed new regulations, raised barriers to trade, expanded the size of government, and then printed money to pay for spending. While governments have begun to reverse these policies, economic freedom in the average country has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.
A preliminary estimate of US economic freedom in the first year of the Trump Administration finds increases in the size of government, weaker protection of property rights and the rule of law, and significant restrictions on trade freedom caused a 0.12-point decline in US economic freedom in 2025.
Nations in the top quartile of economic freedom had an average per capita GDP of $65,596 in 2024, compared to $9,552 for bottom quartile nations. Life expectancy is 80.7 years in the top quartile compared to 67.1 years in the bottom quartile.
The first Economic Freedom of the World Report, published in 1996, was the result of a decade of research by a team which included several Nobel Laureates and over 60 other leading scholars in a broad range of fields, from economics to political science, and from law to philosophy.
