In the Economic Freedom of the World: 2009 Annual Report, released on Tuesday by the Free Market Foundation (FMF), South Africa’s rating improved slightly from 7,03 to 7,06 (out of 10) and is ranked 57th out of 141 countries.
“This means that South Africa’s ranking has declined from 54th in the 2008 report to 57th, but this is because we have been overtaken by Armenia, Botswana, the Czech Republic, Greece and Kenya. But, what is also revealed, is that we have overtaken Italy and Mongolia,” said FMF Executive Director, Leon Louw.
The report ranks Hong Kong number one, followed by Singapore in second place and New Zealand in third. Zimbabwe once again has the lowest level of economic freedom among the 141 countries included in the study. Burma, Angola and Venezuela are next to bottom in the rankings. The 2009 report is based on data from 2007, the most recent year for which comprehensive data is available.
The annual Economic Freedom of the World report is produced by the Fraser Institute, Canada’s leading economic think tank, in cooperation with independent institutes in 75 nations and territories.
In the Economic Freedom of the World report 42 different measures are used to create an index based on policies that encourage economic freedom to rank countries around the world. The cornerstones of economic freedom are personal choice, voluntary exchange, freedom to compete, and security of private property. Economic freedom is measured in five different areas: size of government; legal structure and security of property rights; access to sound money; freedom to trade internationally; and regulation of credit, labour and business.
Research shows that individuals living in countries with high levels of economic freedom enjoy higher levels of prosperity, greater individual freedoms and longer life spans.
“Economic freedom is the key building block of the most prosperous nations around the world. Countries with high levels of economic freedom are those in which people enjoy high standards of living and personal freedoms.
“Countries at the bottom of the index face the opposite situation; their citizens are often mired in poverty, are governed by totalitarian regimes and have few if any individual rights or freedoms,” said Louw. — I-Net Bridge