It is an annual report that uses 17 objective factors to derive a summary economic freedom rating, from zero to ten, for 115 countries, the freest being ten. As has been the case for the last two decades, Hong Kong is the world's freest economy with a rating of 9.3, a full point higher than Singapore with the next highest rating. New Zealand, United States and Mauritius, a tiny island nation off the coast of Africa, rounded out the top five. Switzerland, United Kingdom, Thailand and Costa Rica occupied spots six through nine.
People mistakenly stress the importance of democracy as key to economic progress.
While economic and political freedom are both parts of personal liberty but there are fundamental distinctions. These are the core elements of economic freedom. Civil liberty has to do with rights to assemble, free speech, fair trials, and religious freedom. Recognizing these distinctions, we can see how a county like Singapore can have little political and civil liberties yet have top ranking in economic freedom. On the other hand, democracies like Israel and India have considerable political freedom and civil liberties but have high levels of government intervention and control that restrict economic freedom.