Hong Kong Remains World's Freest Economy, Says Cato Institute

Hong Kong Remains World's Freest Economy, Says Cato Institute,
by Mary Swire, for LawAndTax-News.com,

Hong Kong 19 July 2004

 
Hong Kong has retained the highest rating for economic freedom (8.7 out of 10), followed closely by Singapore (8.6 out of 10) in the latest Economic Freedom of the World survey conducted by free-market think-tank, The Cato Institute.

The United States tied for third place (8.2 out of 10) with New Zealand, whilst Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Ireland, and Luxembourg rounded out the top 10. The bottom five nations of the 123 studied by the Institute were Venezuela, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, and Myanmar.

 

Botswana's ranking of 18th was by far the best among continental sub-Saharan African nations, the survey revealed, whilst Chile, with the best record in Latin America, was tied with four other nations, including Germany, at 22nd.

 

Other large economies achieved the following scores: Japan and Italy, 36th; France, 44th; Mexico, 58th; India, 68th; Brazil, 74th; China, 90th; and Russia, 114th.

 

The 2004 annual report measured a number of factors including taxes, business regulation, and hiring and firing flexibility in order to decide the economic freedom rating of each country. The figures were based on information collected in 2001, which is the most recent data available.

The survey found that nations in the top fifth of the economic freedom ranking have an average per capita income of $26,100, compared to $2,800 for countries in the bottom fifth. It also revealed that nations with greater economic freedom attract almost $11,000 of investment per worker, compared to $845 per worker in the most restricted economies.