The report was launched by Sambridhhi, the Prosperity Foundation, here on Wednesday. The report shows that the economic freedom has improved to some extent worldwide and Nepal is part of that.[break]
As per the report, Nepal figures in the 110th position with a score of 6.33 among the 144 countries included in the report. Although Nepal has made improvement in its overall position, still it is considered among the countries with the least economic freedom.
Out of the five indicators for measuring the economic freedom, Nepal has made progress in some while doing worse in some others.
The indices used in measuring the economic freedom of a country are the size of the government, access to sound money, freedom to trade internationally, the legal system and property rights and regulation of credit, labour and business.
Globally, the average economic freedom score rose slightly to 6.83 in 2010, the most recent year available, after plummeting to its lowest level in nearly three decades with a score of 6.79 in 2009, the Report stated.
According to the report, Hong Kong offers the highest level of economic freedom worldwide, with a score of 8.90 out of 10, followed by Singapore (8.69), New Zealand (8.36), Switzerland (8.24), Australia and Canada (each 7.97), Bahrain (7.94), Mauritius (7.90), Finland (7.88), and Chile (7.84).
The rankings of other large economies include: United States (18th), Japan (20th), Germany (31st), South Korea (37th), France (47th), Italy (83rd), Mexico (91st), Russia (95th), Brazil (105th), China (107th), and India (111th).
Venezuela has the lowest level of economic freedom among the 144 jurisdictions measured. Myanmar, Zimbabwe, Republic of Congo, and Angola round out the bottom five nations.
When the rankings are adjusted to account for changes over the years, it shows that during the past decade some African and formerly Communist nations have experienced the largest increases in economic freedom worldwide: Rwanda (44th this year, compared to 106th in 2000), Malawi (84th, up from 114th), Ghana (53rd, up from 101st), Romania (42nd, up from 110th), Bulgaria (47th, up from 108th), and Albania (32nd, up from 77th), the report stated.
Countries showing the greatest declines since 2000 in the adjusted rankings include Venezuela (123rd this year, down from 94th), Argentina (110th, down from 34th), Iceland (59th, down from 11th), and the United States (19th, down from second overall).
Economic Freedom of the World measures the degree to which the policies and institutions of countries support economic freedom. The annual report is published in conjunction with the Economic Freedom Network, a group of independent research and educational institutes in 90 nations and territories worldwide. The 2012 report was prepared by James Gwartney, Florida State University; Robert A. Lawson, Southern Methodist University; and Joshua Hall, Beloit College.
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