Economic freedom statistics provide a way to compare how countries structure markets, property rights, trade, investment, finance, and government institutions. The 2024 Index of Economic Freedom covered 184 sovereign countries using data from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023. Its global average score fell to 58.6, down from 59.3 the previous year and the lowest level since 2001. Fraser’s 2024 Annual Report used a different framework and rated 165 jurisdictions, so its rankings should be read as a separate comparison rather than combined into one league table.
Contents
- Global economic freedom rankings
- The leading countries in the Heritage index
- The United States and selected economies
- Trade, investment, and financial freedom
- Fraser’s global comparison
- Income, poverty, and life expectancy
- Literacy, child work, tolerance, and corruption
Global economic freedom rankings
The Heritage 2024 Index placed Singapore first, with an overall score of 83.5. Switzerland followed at 83.0, while Ireland ranked third at 82.6. Taiwan was fourth at 80.0, and Luxembourg was fifth at 79.2. These scores describe the index’s assessment for the period from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023, rather than a live measurement on a single day.
New Zealand, Denmark, and Estonia each occupied the next score band with 77.8, ranking sixth, seventh, and eighth respectively. Sweden and Norway followed with identical scores of 77.5, ranking ninth and tenth. The Netherlands ranked 11th at 77.3, Finland 12th at 76.3, and Australia 13th at 76.2. These results show a narrow spread among much of the top tier: from Singapore’s 83.5 to Australia’s 76.2 is 7.3 index points.
The next group included South Korea at 73.1, Lithuania at 72.9, Canada at 72.4, Cyprus at 72.2, and Germany at 72.1. Mauritius and Latvia each scored 71.5, while Chile scored 71.4 and the United Arab Emirates 71.1. Iceland scored 70.5; the Czech Republic scored 70.2; and the United States and Israel each scored 70.1.
The Heritage 2024 Index then placed Uruguay at 69.8, Qatar at 68.8, Portugal at 68.7, the United Kingdom at 68.6, Bulgaria at 68.5, and Georgia and Austria at 68.4. Jamaica and Slovakia each scored 68.1, Botswana scored 68.0, and Costa Rica scored 67.7. Japan scored 67.5; Croatia and Samoa each scored 67.2; and Barbados scored 66.8.
The leading countries in the Heritage index
The lower end of the supplied top-50 ranking still included a diverse set of economies. Poland ranked 42nd with 66.0, followed by Brunei and Slovenia, tied at 65.9. Malaysia ranked 45th at 65.7, Belgium 46th at 65.6, Armenia 47th at 64.9, Albania and Peru tied at 64.8, and Malta ranked 50th at 64.5.
| Heritage 2024 rank | Country | Overall score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Singapore | 83.5 |
| 2 | Switzerland | 83.0 |
| 3 | Ireland | 82.6 |
| 4 | Taiwan | 80.0 |
| 5 | Luxembourg | 79.2 |
| 10 | Norway | 77.5 |
| 15 | Lithuania | 72.9 |
| 20 | Latvia | 71.5 |
| 25 | United States | 70.1 |
| 30 | United Kingdom | 68.6 |
| 40 | Samoa | 67.2 |
| 50 | Malta | 64.5 |
Source: Heritage 2024 Index. The table selects positions from the supplied ranking; it is not a complete list of all 184 countries.
The overall global average of 58.6 provides context for the country scores. A score of 70.1 placed the United States more than 11 points above that average, while Malta’s 64.5 was nearly 6 points above it. The comparison also illustrates why country rankings need their coverage period attached: the index’s data window ended June 30, 2023, even though the report is identified as the 2024 edition.
The United States and selected economies
The United States ranked 25th in the Heritage 2024 Index with a score of 70.1. The Heritage 2024 Index also reported that this was the country’s lowest score ever in the index’s 30-year history. That historical statement concerns the index series and should not be read as a claim about every dimension of the American economy.
The United States sat below Canada, which ranked 16th with 72.4, and below Australia, which ranked 13th with 76.2. It was above Uruguay at 69.8, Qatar at 68.8, Portugal at 68.7, and the United Kingdom at 68.6. Israel shared the United States’ score of 70.1 but ranked 26th, one place lower.
The top 25 also included economies with different regional and institutional profiles. Singapore led at 83.5, Switzerland followed at 83.0, and Ireland reached 82.6. Taiwan scored 80.0, while New Zealand, Denmark, and Estonia each scored 77.8. South Korea scored 73.1, Germany 72.1, Chile 71.4, and Japan 67.5. The range from Singapore to Japan was 16.0 points.
Trade, investment, and financial freedom
The Heritage 2024 Index reported a global average trade-weighted applied tariff rate of 7.7%. This is a trade measure, not an overall economic-freedom score, and the word “trade-weighted” indicates that the average reflects the relative importance of traded goods in the calculation.
Two component measures were also reported. The global investment freedom score was 56.4, while the global financial freedom score was 48.8. Their different levels show that an overall country ranking can conceal variation between policy areas. A country can have a comparatively strong overall score while still recording a weaker result in a particular component.
The global average overall score of 58.6, the investment freedom score of 56.4, and the financial freedom score of 48.8 are not interchangeable units. They are separate figures from the Heritage framework and should be used to describe different parts of the index. The tariff rate is a percentage; the other three figures are index scores.
Fraser’s global comparison
Fraser’s 2024 Annual Report rated 165 jurisdictions. Its 10 highest-rated were Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, New Zealand, the United States, Denmark, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and Luxembourg. Its 10 lowest-rated were Yemen, Libya, Iran, Argentina, Myanmar, Algeria, Syria, Sudan, Zimbabwe, and Venezuela.
The Fraser list overlaps with the Heritage leaders, but the order is not identical. Hong Kong led Fraser’s top 10 even though Singapore led the Heritage ranking. The United States was fifth in Fraser’s top 10 and 25th in Heritage’s 184-country table. These differences reflect separate index designs, coverage, scoring methods, and reference periods.
Hong Kong’s Fraser rating fell from 9.05 in 2018 to 8.58 in 2022. The report stated that the 2022 rating remained nearly half a standard deviation below its 2018 level. Because these observations refer to 2018 and 2022, they should not be described as a current-year change or directly merged with the Heritage data window ending June 30, 2023.
Income, poverty, and life expectancy
Fraser’s 2024 Annual Report compared outcomes across economic-freedom groups. In the top quartile of economic freedom, GDP per person was $52,877 in 2022. In the least economically free places, GDP per person was $6,968 in 2022. The difference between these reported levels was $45,909, but the figures describe group averages or reported group measures and do not establish that economic freedom alone caused the gap.
The income comparison for the poorest 10% also showed a large difference. In the most economically free places, the poorest 10% earned $7,610 a year. In the least economically free places, the poorest 10% earned $952 a year. Those reported annual amounts are associated with the Fraser comparison and should not be treated as individual-country estimates.
Extreme poverty affected 1% of the population in the most economically free places, compared with 30% in the least free places. The Fraser report also stated that people in the most economically free places could expect to live about 16 years longer than people in the least free places. These are cross-group outcome comparisons, not forecasts of future life expectancy.
The same report found that people in the freest places were about 40% more satisfied with their lives than people in the least free places. Infant mortality in the least economically free places was about nine times higher than in the freest places. Together, these figures connect economic-freedom groupings with income, material hardship, longevity, subjective well-being, and child health while leaving the interpretation of causation open.
Literacy, child work, tolerance, and corruption
Youth literacy figures in the Fraser comparison were reported separately for males and females aged 15 to 24. In the most free quartile, male youth literacy was 98% and female youth literacy was 100%. In the least free quartile, male youth literacy was 81% and female youth literacy was 78%.
The report also summarized the figures as youth literacy rates of 99% for boys and 100% for girls in the most economically free places, versus 81% for boys and 78% for girls in the least economically free places. The two presentations use the same reported sex-specific values but different rounding or grouping language, so both should be understood as summaries of the Fraser comparison rather than separate datasets.
Child work showed another gap between the groups. Children worked in the least economically free places at nearly 2.5 times the rate seen in the most free places. The report gave a rate of 11% for the most economically free places and 26% for the least economically free places. The 15-percentage-point difference is descriptive; the report’s “nearly 2.5 times” wording is retained because the underlying rates are presented as a comparison between groups.
The Environmental Performance Index score was 47 in the most free quartile and 40 in the least free quartile. The Global Social Tolerance Index score was 70 in the most free quartile and 33 in the least free quartile. These figures indicate that the Fraser report compared economic freedom with environmental and social measures, but they do not turn those measures into components of the Heritage overall score.
Corruption-perception scores were 5.0 in the most free quartile and 26.2 in the least free quartile. The Fraser report described the freest societies as about 2.5 times as tolerant on corruption perceptions as the least free societies. Because the direction and scale of corruption-perception measures matter, the numerical scores should be read with their group labels attached rather than interpreted as a simple percentage ranking.
The combined picture is therefore broad but specific: the Heritage 2024 Index measured 184 sovereign countries over July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023, while Fraser’s 2024 Annual Report rated 165 jurisdictions and supplied 2022 outcome comparisons. Their figures show different rankings and several sizeable group-level differences in income, poverty, literacy, child work, health, tolerance, and corruption perceptions. They remain separate sources with separate periods and measurement systems.