The human freedom index 2024 : a global measurement of personal, civil, and economic freedom

Title page 1

the HUMAN FREEDOM INDEX 2024 1

Contents 4

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 5

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 6

INDEX RATINGS AND RANKINGS 2024 8

INTRODUCTION 12

DEFINING AND MEASURING FREEDOM 12

WHAT THE INDEX MEASURES 17

FINDINGS 23

TOWARD A BETTER APPRECIATION OF FREEDOM 35

COUNTRIES BY REGION 38

COUNTRY PROFILES 53

ALBANIA 54

ALGERIA 56

ANGOLA 58

ARGENTINA 60

ARMENIA 62

AUSTRALIA 64

AUSTRIA 66

AZERBAIJAN 68

BAHAMAS, THE 70

BAHRAIN 72

BANGLADESH 74

BARBADOS 76

BELARUS 78

BELGIUM 80

BELIZE 82

BENIN 84

BHUTAN 86

BOLIVIA 88

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 90

BOTSWANA 92

BRAZIL 94

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM 96

BULGARIA 98

BURKINA FASO 100

BURUNDI 102

CABO VERDE 104

CAMBODIA 106

CAMEROON 108

CANADA 110

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC 112

CHAD 114

CHILE 116

CHINA 118

COLOMBIA 120

COMOROS 122

CONGO, DEM. REP. 124

CONGO, REP. 126

COSTA RICA 128

CÔTE D'IVOIRE 130

CROATIA 132

CYPRUS 134

CZECHIA 136

DENMARK 138

DJIBOUTI 140

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 142

ECUADOR 144

EGYPT, ARAB REP. 146

EL SALVADOR 148

ESTONIA 150

ESWATINI 152

ETHIOPIA 154

FIJI 156

FINLAND 158

FRANCE 160

GABON 162

GAMBIA, THE 164

GEORGIA 166

GERMANY 168

GHANA 170

GREECE 172

GUATEMALA 174

GUINEA 176

GUINEA-BISSAU 178

GUYANA 180

HAITI 182

HONDURAS 184

HONG KONG SAR, CHINA 186

HUNGARY 188

ICELAND 190

INDIA 192

INDONESIA 194

IRAN, ISLAMIC REP. 196

IRAQ 198

IRELAND 200

ISRAEL 202

ITALY 204

JAMAICA 206

JAPAN 208

JORDAN 210

KAZAKHSTAN 212

KENYA 214

KOREA, REP. 216

KUWAIT 218

KYRGYZ REPUBLIC 220

LAO PDR 222

LATVIA 224

LEBANON 226

LESOTHO 228

LIBERIA 230

LIBYA 232

LITHUANIA 234

LUXEMBOURG 236

MADAGASCAR 238

MALAWI 240

MALAYSIA 242

MALI 244

MALTA 246

MAURITANIA 248

MAURITIUS 250

MEXICO 252

MOLDOVA 254

MONGOLIA 256

MONTENEGRO 258

MOROCCO 260

MOZAMBIQUE 262

MYANMAR 264

NAMIBIA 266

NEPAL 268

NETHERLANDS 270

NEW ZEALAND 272

NICARAGUA 274

NIGER 276

NIGERIA 278

NORTH MACEDONIA 280

NORWAY 282

OMAN 284

PAKISTAN 286

PANAMA 288

PAPUA NEW GUINEA 290

PARAGUAY 292

PERU 294

PHILIPPINES 296

POLAND 298

PORTUGAL 300

QATAR 302

ROMANIA 304

RUSSIAN FEDERATION 306

RWANDA 308

SAUDI ARABIA 310

SENEGAL 312

SERBIA 314

SEYCHELLES 316

SIERRA LEONE 318

SINGAPORE 320

SLOVAK REPUBLIC 322

SLOVENIA 324

SOMALIA 326

SOUTH AFRICA 328

SPAIN 330

SRI LANKA 332

SUDAN 334

SURINAME 336

SWEDEN 338

SWITZERLAND 340

SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC 342

TAIWAN 344

TAJIKISTAN 346

TANZANIA 348

THAILAND 350

TIMOR-LESTE 352

TOGO 354

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 356

TUNISIA 358

TURKEY 360

UGANDA 362

UKRAINE 364

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 366

UNITED KINGDOM 368

UNITED STATES 370

URUGUAY 372

VENEZUELA, RB 374

VIETNAM 376

YEMEN, REP. 378

ZAMBIA 380

ZIMBABWE 382

METHODOLOGY AND SOURCES 384

NOTES 421

ABOUT THE AUTHORS 425

ABOUT THE COPUBLISHERS 426

Tables 18

Table 1. Structure of the Human Freedom Index 18

Table 2. Human Freedom Index and subindexes, 2022 24

Table 3. Jurisdictions with most deteriorated freedom scores, 2007-2022 29

Figures 28

Figure 1. Human freedom score (2000-2022) 28

Figure 2. Changes in personal freedom and economic freedom (2007-2022) 28

Figure 3. Personal freedom and economic freedom 29

Figure 4. Human freedom score by area (2022) and changes (2000-2022) 30

Figure 5. Human freedom score by region (2022) and changes (2000-2022) 30

Figure 6. Average women-specific personal freedom score by region, 2022 31

Figure 7. Freedom of expression, 2000-2022 31

Figure 8. Human freedom and median income per capita, 2022 32

Figure 9. Human freedom and income by region, 2022 32

Figure 10. Life expectancy at birth, in years 33

Figure 11. Share of the population in extreme poverty 33

Figure 12. Child mortality rate, per 100 live births 33

Figure 13. Life satisfaction 33

Figure 14. Deaths from conflict, per 100,000 people 33

Figure 15. Scientific and technical journal articles, per million people 33

Figure 16. Social tolerance 34

Figure 17. Environmental performance 34

Figure 18. Absence of corruption 34

Figure 19. Average annual net migration 34

Figure 20. Percent of population that donates to charity 34

Figure 21. Patents per million residents 34

Figure 22. Human freedom and democracy, 2022 35

Figure 23. Hong Kong ranking, human freedom 36

Figure 24. Hong Kong ranking, freedom of association and assembly 37

Boxes 36

Box 1. The fall of freedom in Hong Kong 36