10 most economically free countries are…

Canada ranks among the world’s most economically free regions, finds a recent Fraser Institute report. The top ten countries of 2015, in descending order, are:

Hong Kong;
Singapore;
New Zealand;
Switzerland;
United Arab Emirates;
Mauritius;
Jordan;
Ireland;
Canada; and
the United Kingdom.

The annual report measures the economic freedom of more than 150 countries by analyzing their governments, legal systems and securities markets. It also examines the regulation of each country’s credit, labour and business markets.

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Breaking down data from 2013, the reports finds countries in the top quartile of economic freedom had an average per-capita GDP of US$38,601 in 2013, compared to US$6,986 for bottom-quartile nations.

Moreover, in 2013, the average income of the poorest 10% of the population in the most economically free countries (US$9,881) dwarfed the overall average income in the least free countries (US$1,629).

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And, the report notes that life expectancy is 80.1 years in the top quartile of countries, compared to 63.1 years in the bottom quartile.

Those data points show that economic freedom breeds health and prosperity, says Fred McMahon, chair of Economic Freedom Research at the Fraser Institute. “Countries like Canada offer the highest quality of life, [while] the lowest-ranked countries are usually burdened by oppressive regimes that limit the freedom and opportunity of their citizens.”

For 2015, the ten lowest-ranked countries, in descending order, are: