Global economic freedom declines for fourth straight year

TORONTO, Sept. 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ - Global economic freedom has declined for the fourth year in a row, finds the annual Economic Freedom of the World report published today by the Fraser Institute.

"Global economic freedom peaked in 2019 but has declined in each of the four years since then, which hasn't happened since we began measuring economic freedom more than 25 years ago," said Matthew Mitchell, senior fellow at the Fraser Institute and a contributor to the report.

Economic freedom—the degree to which individuals are allowed to make their own decisions about what to buy, where to work and whether to start a business—is fundamental to prosperity. Economic freedom measures openness to trade, tax and regulatory burdens, government spending, and the soundness of a country's money.

In 2023 (the latest year of available data), Hong Kong was the most economically-free jurisdiction in the world (although it's score has declined in recent years), followed by Singapore (2^nd), New Zealand (3^rd), Switzerland (4^th) and the United States (5^th).

Crucially, because the data are from 2023, they do not reflect any consequences from the current trade war (though the report does include a chapter on the trade war's potential effects on economic freedom in the U.S.).

The rankings of other major countries include the United Kingdom (13^th), Germany (15^th), Japan (17^th), Korea (38^th), France (44^th), Italy (46^th), Indonesia (65^th), Mexico (70^th), India (86^th), Brazil (87^th), China (108^th), and Russia (148^th).

The 10 lowest-ranked countries were Chad, Libya, Syria, Argentina, Myanmar, Iran, Algeria, Sudan, Zimbabwe and Venezuela.

People living in countries with high levels of economic freedom enjoy greater prosperity, more political and civil liberties, and longer lives.

For example, in 2023 per-person GDP (an indicator of living standards) in countries in the top 25 per cent of economic freedom was US$66,434 compared to US$10,751 for countries in the least-economically free quartile.

And poverty rates are lower. In the most-economically free quartile, 2 per cent of the population experienced extreme poverty (living on less than US$3.65 per day) compared to 52 per cent in the least-free quartile.

Finally, life expectancy is 79 years in the freest countries compared to 62 years in the least free.

"Where people are free to pursue their own opportunities and make their own economic choices, they lead more prosperous, happier and healthier lives," Mitchell said.

To arrange media interviews or for more information, please contact:
Mark Hasiuk, Senior Media Relations Specialist, Fraser Institute, (604) 688-0221 Ext. 517, [email protected]

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The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institute's independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit www.fraserinstitute.org

SOURCE The Fraser Institute