The human freedom index 2021 : a global measurement of personal, civil, and economic freedom

Title page

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 5

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 6

THE SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT 12

DEFINING AND MEASURING FREEDOM 12

WHAT THE INDEX MEASURES 17

FINDINGS 24

CONCLUSION: TOWARD A BETTER APPRECIATION OF FREEDOM 35

COUNTRIES BY REGION 37

COUNTRY PROFILES 52

ALBANIA 53

ALGERIA 55

ANGOLA 57

ARGENTINA 59

ARMENIA 61

AUSTRALIA 63

AUSTRIA 65

AZERBAIJAN 67

BAHAMAS, THE 69

BAHRAIN 71

BANGLADESH 73

BARBADOS 75

BELARUS 77

BELGIUM 79

BELIZE 81

BENIN 83

BHUTAN 85

BOLIVIA 87

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 89

BOTSWANA 91

BRAZIL 93

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM 95

BULGARIA 97

BURKINA FASO 99

BURUNDI 101

CABO VERDE 103

CAMBODIA 105

CAMEROON 107

CANADA 109

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC 111

CHAD 113

CHILE 115

CHINA 117

COLOMBIA 119

COMOROS 121

CONGO, DEM. REP. 123

CONGO, REP. 125

COSTA RICA 127

COTE D'IVOIRE 129

CROATIA 131

CYPRUS 133

CZECH REPUBLIC 135

DENMARK 137

DJIBOUTI 139

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 141

ECUADOR 143

EGYPT, ARAB REP. 145

EL SALVADOR 147

ESTONIA 149

ESWATINI 151

ETHIOPIA 153

FIJI 155

FINLAND 157

FRANCE 159

GABON 161

GAMBIA, THE 163

GEORGIA 165

GERMANY 167

GHANA 169

GREECE 171

GUATEMALA 173

GUINEA 175

GUINEA-BISSAU 177

GUYANA 179

HAITI 181

HONDURAS 183

HONG KONG SAR, CHINA 185

HUNGARY 187

ICELAND 189

INDIA 191

INDONESIA 193

IRAN, ISLAMIC REP. 195

IRAQ 197

IRELAND 199

ISRAEL 201

ITALY 203

JAMAICA 205

JAPAN 207

JORDAN 209

KAZAKHSTAN 211

KENYA 213

KOREA, REP. 215

KUWAIT 217

KYRGYZ REPUBLIC 219

LAO PDR 221

LATVIA 223

LEBANON 225

LESOTHO 227

LIBERIA 229

LIBYA 231

LITHUANIA 233

LUXEMBOURG 235

MADAGASCAR 237

MALAWI 239

MALAYSIA 241

MALI 243

MALTA 245

MAURITANIA 247

MAURITIUS 249

MEXICO 251

MOLDOVA 253

MONGOLIA 255

MONTENEGRO 257

MOROCCO 259

MOZAMBIQUE 261

MYANMAR 263

NAMIBIA 265

NEPAL 267

NETHERLANDS 269

NEW ZEALAND 271

NICARAGUA 273

NIGER 275

NIGERIA 277

NORTH MACEDONIA 279

NORWAY 281

OMAN 283

PAKISTAN 285

PANAMA 287

PAPUA NEW GUINEA 289

PARAGUAY 291

PERU 293

PHILIPPINES 295

POLAND 297

PORTUGAL 299

QATAR 301

ROMANIA 303

RUSSIAN FEDERATION 305

RWANDA 307

SAUDI ARABIA 309

SENEGAL 311

SERBIA 313

SEYCHELLES 315

SIERRA LEONE 317

SINGAPORE 319

SLOVAK REPUBLIC 321

SLOVENIA 323

SOMALIA 325

SOUTH AFRICA 327

SPAIN 329

SRI LANKA 331

SUDAN 333

SURINAME 335

SWEDEN 337

SWITZERLAND 339

SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC 341

TAIWAN 343

TAJIKISTAN 345

TANZANIA 347

THAILAND 349

TIMOR-LESTE 351

TOGO 353

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 355

TUNISIA 357

TURKEY 359

UGANDA 361

UKRAINE 363

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 365

UNITED KINGDOM 367

UNITED STATES 369

URUGUAY 371

VENEZUELA, RB 373

VIETNAM 375

YEMEN, REP. 377

ZAMBIA 379

ZIMBABWE 381

METHODOLOGY AND SOURCES 383

NOTES 419

ABOUT THE AUTHORS 422

ABOUT THE COPUBLISHERS 423

Table 1. Structure of the Human Freedom Index 18

Table 2. Human Freedom Index and subindexes, 2019 24

Table 3. Top five and lowest five jurisdictions in the Human Freedom Index, 2019 28

Figure 1. Gain and loss of freedom by world population, 2008-2019 28

Figure 2. Density plot of human freedom, 2008 and 2019 29

Figure 3. Countries with most improved and deteriorated freedom scores, 2008-2019 29

Figure 4. Personal freedom and economic freedom, 2019 30

Figure 5. Economic freedom by personal freedom quartiles, 2019 30

Figure 6. Human freedom score by area (2019) and changes (2008-2019) 31

Figure 7. Human freedom score by region (2019) and changes (2008-2019) 31

Figure 8. Average women-specific personal freedom score by region, 2019 32

Figure 9. Freedom of expression, 2008-2019 32

Figure 10. Income per capita by freedom quartiles, 2019 33

Figure 11. Human freedom and income by region, 2019 34

Figure 12. Human freedom and democracy, 2019 34

Figure 13. Hong Kong ranking, human freedom 35

Figure 14. Hong Kong ranking, freedom of association and assembly 36

Boxes

Box 1. The fall of freedom in Hong Kong 35