Economic freedom is the fundamental right of every human to control his or her own labour and property. In an economically free society, individuals are free to work, produce, consume and invest in any way they please. In economically free societies, governments allow labour, capital and goods to move freely, and refrain from coercion or constraint of liberty beyond the extent necessary to protect and maintain liberty itself.

The Index of Economic Freedom is published by the Heritage Foundation.

It measures economic freedom based on 12 quantitative and qualitative factors, grouped into four broad categories, or pillars, of economic freedom:

1. Rule of Law (property rights, government integrity, judicial effectiveness);

2. Government Size (government spending, tax burden, fiscal health);

3. Regulatory Efficiency (business freedom, labour freedom, monetary freedom); and

4. Open Markets (trade freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom).

Each of the twelve economic freedoms within these categories is graded on a scale of 0 to 100. A country’s overall score is derived by averaging these twelve economic freedoms, with equal weight being given to each.

Rankings: According to the Index, in 2019 Hong Kong is the most economically free country, followed by Singapore and New Zealand.

India is ranked 129 in the 2019 version of the report.