Economic Freedom Index Report 2020

 The Economic Freedom of the World: 2020 Annual Report by Canada's Fraser Institute has been
released in India in conjunction with New Delhi-based think tank Centre For Civil Society.
 The report measures economic freedom (levels of personal choice, ability to enter markets, security
of privately-owned property, rule of law, among others) by analyzing the policies and institutions of
162 countries and territories.
 India has fallen 26 spots to the 105th position on the Global Economic Freedom Index 2020.
 The country was at the 79th spot in last year's rankings.
 India reported marginal decrease in size of government (from 8.22 to 7.16), legal system and
property rights (from 5.17 to 5.06), freedom to trade internationally (6.08 to 5.71) and regulation of
credit, labor and business (6.63 to 6.53).
 According to the report, based on 2018 data, Hong Kong and Singapore once again topped the index,
continuing their streak as first and second ranked, respectively.
 New Zealand, Switzerland, US, Australia, Mauritius, Georgia, Canada and Ireland round out the top-
10.
 India has been ranked higher than China, which stands at the 124th position.
 The 10 lowest-rated countries are African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe,
Republic of Congo, Algeria, Iran, Angola, Libya, Sudan and Venezuela.
 Other notable rankings include Japan (20th), Germany (21st), Italy (51st), France (58th), Mexico
(68th), Russia (89th) and Brazil (105th).
 The report said prospects for increasing economic freedom in India depends on next generation
reforms in factor markets and in greater openness to international trade.
 Since the ranking is based on 2018 data, many new restrictions on international trade, tightening of
the credit market due to NPAs and COVID-19's impact on debt and deficits are not reflected in
India's score.
 Nations in the top quartile of economic freedom had an average per-capita GDP of $44,198 in 2018,
compared to $5,754 for nations in the bottom quartile.

Reference : https://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/economic-freedom