The Human Freedom Index presents the state of human freedom in the world based on a broad measure that encompasses personal, civil, and economic freedom. Human freedom is a social concept that.
The Human Freedom Index presents the state of human freedom inthe world based on a broad measure that encompasses personal,civil, and economic freedom. Human freedom is a social concept thatrecognizes the dignity of individuals and is defined here asnegative liberty or the absence of coercive constraint. Becausefreedom is inherently valuable and plays a role in human progress,it is worth measuring carefully. The Human Freedom Index is aresource that can help to more objectively observe relationshipsbetween freedom and other social and economic phenomena, as well asthe ways in which the various dimensions of freedom interact withone another.The report is co-published by the Cato Institute, the FraserInstitute, and the Liberales Institut at the Friedrich NaumannFoundation for Freedom.By andData:The index published here presents a broad measure of humanfreedom, understood as the absence of coercive constraint. It uses79 distinct indicators of personal and economic freedom in thefollowing areas. Identity and Relationships. Size of Government.
Legal System and Property Rights. Access to Sound Money. Freedom to Trade Internationally. Regulation of Credit, Labor, and BusinessThe HFI is the most comprehensive freedomindex so far created for a globally meaningful set of countries.The HFI covers 162 countries for 2016, the most recent year forwhich sufficient data are available and it includes threecountries-Belarus, Iraq, and Sudan-that were added this year. Theindex ranks countries beginning in 2008, the earliest year forwhich a robust enough index could be produced.On a scale of 0 to 10, where 10 represents more freedom, theaverage human freedom rating for 162 countries in 2016 was 6.89.Among countries included in this year’s and last year’s report, thelevel of freedom decreased slightly (−0.01) compared with 2015,with 63 countries increasing their ratings and 87 decreasing.
Since2008, the level of global freedom has also decreased slightly(−0.06), with 56 countries in the index increasing their ratingsand 81 decreasing. The jurisdictions that took the top 10 places, in order, wereNew Zealand, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Australia, Canada, theNetherlands and Denmark (tied in 6th place), Ireland and the UnitedKingdom (tied in 8th place), and Finland, Norway, and Taiwan (tiedin 10th place). Countries in the top quartile of freedom enjoy a significantlyhigher average per capita income ($39,249) than those in otherquartiles; the average per capita income in the least-free quartileis $12,026.The HFI also finds a strong relationship between human freedomand democracy.
Hong Kong is an outlier in this regard.The findings in the HFI suggest that freedom plays an importantrole in human well-being, and they offer opportunities for furtherresearch into the complex ways in which freedom influences, and canbe influenced by, political regimes, economic development, and thewhole range of indicators of human well-being. Data: By andThe index published here presents a broad measure of humanfreedom, understood as the absence of coercive constraint. It uses79 distinct indicators of personal and economic freedom in thefollowing areas. Identity and Relationships. Size of Government. Legal System and Property Rights.
Access to Sound Money. Freedom to Trade Internationally. Regulation of Credit, Labor, and BusinessThe HFI is the most comprehensive freedomindex so far created for a globally meaningful set of countries.The HFI covers 159 countries for 2015, the most recent year forwhich sufficient data are available. The index ranks countriesbeginning in 2008, the earliest year for which a robust enoughindex could be produced.On a scale of 0 to 10, where 10 represents more freedom, theaverage human freedom rating for 159 countries in 2015 was 6.93.Among countries included in this report, the level of freedomdecreased slightly (-0.05) compared with 2014, with 61 countriesincreasing their ratings and 97 decreasing.
Since 2008, the levelof global freedom has also decreased slightly (-0.12), with abouthalf of the countries in the index increasing their ratings andhalf decreasing. Relationships. Size of Government. Legal System and Property Rights. Access to Sound Money. Freedom to Trade Internationally. Regulation of Credit, Labor, and BusinessThe Human Freedom Index (HFI) is the mostcomprehensive freedom index so far created for a globallymeaningful set of countries.
The HFI covers 159 countries for 2014,the most recent year for which sufficient data are available. Theindex ranks countries beginning in 2008, the earliest year forwhich a robust enough index could be produced.On a scale of 0 to 10, where 10 represents more freedom, thenon-weighted average rating for 159 countries in 2014 was 6.93. Thelevel of global freedom stayed about the same compared to 2008, butalmost all countries experienced changes in their ratings, withabout half of those increasing their ratings and halfdecreasing.The top 10 jurisdictions in order were Hong Kong, Switzerland,New Zealand, Ireland, Denmark, Australia (6), Canada (6), theUnited Kingdom (6), Finland (9), and the Netherlands (10). TheUnited States is ranked in 23rd place. Other countries rank asfollows: Germany (13), Chile (29), France (31), Japan (32),Singapore (40), South Africa (74), Brazil (82), India (87), Russia(115), Nigeria (140), China (141), Saudi Arabia (144), Zimbabwe(148), Venezuela (154), and Iran (157).Out of 17 regions, the highest levels of freedom are in WesternEurope, Northern Europe, and North America (Canada and the UnitedStates). The lowest levels are in the Middle East and North Africa,South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. Women’s freedoms, as measuredby seven relevant indicators in the index, are strongest or leastrepressed in Europe and North America and least protected in theMiddle East and North Africa, South Asia, and sub-SaharanAfrica.Countries in the top quartile of freedom enjoy a significantlyhigher per capita income ($37,147) than those in other quartiles;the per capita income in the least-free quartile is $8,700.
The HFIfinds a strong correlation between human freedom and democracy.Hong Kong is an outlier in this regard.The findings in the HFI suggest that freedom plays an importantrole in human well-being, and they offer opportunities for furtherresearch into the complex ways in which freedom influences, and canbe influenced by, political regimes, economic development, and thewhole range of indicators of human well-being.By andThe index published here presents a broad measure of humanfreedom, understood as the absence of coercive constraint. It uses76 distinct indicators of personal and economic freedom in thefollowing areas. Relationships. Size of Government. Legal System and Property Rights. Access to Sound Money.
Freedom to Trade Internationally. Regulation of Credit, Labor, and BusinessThe Human Freedom Index (HFI) is the mostcomprehensive freedom index so far created for a globallymeaningful set of countries. The HFI covers 152 countries for 2012,the most recent year for which sufficient data is available.
Theindex ranks countries beginning in 2008, the earliest year forwhich a robust enough index could be produced. This preliminaryreport was updated (using data for 2013) and will be subsequentlypresented and updated on a yearly basis.On a scale of 0 to 10, where 10 represents more freedom, thenonweighted average rating for 152 countries in 2012 was 6.96. Thelevel of global freedom stayed about the same compared to 2008, butalmost all countries experienced changes in their ratings, withabout half of those increasing their ratings and halfdecreasing.The top 10 jurisdictions in order were Hong Kong, Switzerland,Finland, Denmark, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Ireland, theUnited Kingdom, and Sweden.
The United States is ranked in 20thplace. Other countries rank as follows: Germany (12), Chile (18),Japan (28), France (33), Singapore (43), South Africa (70), India(75), Brazil (82), Russia (111), China (132), Nigeria (139), SaudiArabia (141), Venezuela (144), Zimbabwe (149), and Iran (152).Out of 17 regions, the highest levels of freedom are in NorthernEurope, North America (Canada and the United States), and WesternEurope. The lowest levels are in the Middle East and North Africa,Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia. Women’s freedoms, as measuredby five relevant indicators in the index, are most protected inEurope and North America and least protected in South Asia,Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East and North Africa.Countries in the top quartile of freedom enjoy a significantlyhigher per capita income ($30,006) than those in other quartiles;the per capita income in the least-free quartile is $2,615. The HFIfinds a strong correlation between human freedom and democracy.Hong Kong is an outlier in this regard.The findings in the HFI suggest that freedom plays an importantrole in human well-being, and they offer opportunities for furtherresearch into the complex ways in which freedom influences, and canbe influenced by, political regimes, economic development, and thewhole range of indicators of human well-being.