The newest edition of Economic Freedom of the World has been released by the Fraser Institute and I will continue my tradition (2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, etc) of putting a spotlight on major developments.

We’ll start with the good news. After several years of decline, average economic freedom actually increased last year (though if you adjust for population, there was no increase).

Most people care first and foremost about which nations score highest and lowest.

With that in mind, here are the 20 jurisdictions with most economic liberty. Hong Kong is still clinging to first place (I’m surprised), followed by Singapore, New Zealand, and Switzerland.

The United States if 5th, which is where it was ranked last year.

Though America’s score did increase,, rising slightly from 8.0 to 8.1.

But remember that is based on data is 2023, so those who want to praise Trump (for deregulation and tax cuts) or criticize Trump (for protectionism) will have to wait two more years before we can look at changes from 2024 to 2025.

Here are five other observations about the top-20 list:

1. Taiwan does not get enough attention for its economic success.
2. Canada has declined, but I expected a bigger drop because of Trudeau’s dilettante statism.
3. The United Kingdom dropped even more, which definitely is not a surprise.
4. I’m saddened by the gradual decline of Estonia and the other Baltic nations.
5. Don’t overlook the good track records of Denmark, Costa Rica, and the Netherlands.

Now let’s look at the bottom 10.

Venezuela is in last place, just like last year, followed by Zimbabwe.

Here are two additional observations about the world’s most economically repressive nations.

1. Remember that the data is for 2023, so Argentina’s awful score is an estimate of the nation’s policies when Javier Milei took office (he was elected in November 2023 and inaugurated in December 2023). We’ll learn how much progress he made in his first 12 months when next year’s EFW is released.
2. Because good data is lacking, Cuba and North Korea are not part of the rankings. In all likelihood, those hellhole nations would rank even lower than Venezuela.

Now let’s look at some charts that illustrate why economic freedom is important.

This chart shows the very clear link between economic liberty and national prosperity.

Some of my left-leaning friends think minimizing poverty is more important that maximizing growth.

I tell them that maximizing growth is the best (perhaps only) way to reduce poverty.

Well, it appears that I’m right and they’re wrong. Here’s a chart showing that poverty is lowest in nations with the most economic liberty.

Last but not least, here’s a chart showing why I’m a fan of Western Civilization.

Economic freedom is highest in North America (albeit based on just two nations), followed by Europe and East Asia.

Though it pains me to acknowledge that economic liberty has been declining this century when looking just at the nations most associated with Western Civilization (North America, Western Europe, and the Pacific Rim).

P.S. A special shout-out to Botswana for being the top-ranked nation in sub-Saharan Africa and similar praise to Chile for being the highest-ranked country in South America.