The Heritage Foundation, a US Conservative think-tank, recently launched the “Economic Freedom Index”. In the index, Singapore has topped the global ranking for the second consecutive year. The index was prepared by covering 184 countries this time for the period of July 2019 to June 2020.
Highlights
The overall score of the Singapore was increased by 0.3 points to 89.7. The score was increased primarily because of the improvement in score for the government spending. The score obtained by Singapore is well-above the regional and the world averages. Hongkong was not considered to prepare this year’s index for the first time which has topped the list for 25 years out of 26 years before this year’s index. Hong Kong was kept outside, because, the Special Administrative Region & the economic policies of the country now come under the direct control of Beijing.
Global Five countries
The second place was obtained by New Zealand with its score of 83.9 points. Australia has obtained the third position with 82.4 points. Switzerland has scored 81.9 points and acquired the fourth position. While, the Ireland obtained the fifth position with 81.4 points.
Rank of Major Economies
Among the major economies of the world, the United Kingdom has been ranked at 7th position with its score of 78.4 points. The United States has been ranked 20th with 74.8 points. Japan was ranked at 23rd and has obtained the score of 74.1 points. Germany obtained 72.5 points and was ranked 29th. China has been ranked at number 107 with its score of 58.4 points. India has obtained a score of 56.5 this year which is ranked at the middle among Asia-Pacific countries that is 26th out of 40 Asia-Pacific countries.
Index of Economic Freedom
It is an annual index and ranking. It was created in the year 1995 by the conservative think-tank called The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. This index measures the degree of economic freedom among the world’s nations. This index is inspired by Adam Smith’s approach in The Wealth of Nations which states that the “basic institutions which protect the liberty of individuals to pursue their economic interests, in turn, result into the greater prosperity for bigger society”.