Report on Economic Freedom in the World: BiH Worsened its Rating - Last Year at 77th Place, Now at 91st

BiH is ranked 91st out of a total of 158 countries and Hong Kong included in the report Economic Freedom of the World: 2016 - Annual Report, which was published today by the Center for Business Affirmation (CPA) in cooperation with the Fraser Institute from Canada, reports the Patria News Agency.

In last year's report, BiH held the 77th position, so our country has interrupted its continuity of improving economic freedoms and has once again found itself among countries with more restrictive systems. 

Hong Kong is again at the top of the table, followed by Singapore, New Zealand, and Switzerland. The five worst-ranked countries are: Central African Republic, Argentina, Republic of the Congo, Libya, and at the very bottom, as last year, is Venezuela. 

According to fact-based research, people living in countries with a high level of economic freedom enjoy greater prosperity, more political and civil liberties, and a longer life expectancy. The foundations of economic freedom include personal choice, freedom of exchange, and security of private property. 

Countries in the first quartile of economic freedom had an average GDP per capita of US$41,228 in 2014, compared to US$5,471 for countries in the last quartile. For comparison, BiH achieved a GDP per capita of US$4,652 in the same year.

BiH scores from 1 to 10 in key components of economic freedom, where a higher value indicates a higher level of economic freedom. 

-Based on the criteria of the Fraser Institute, BiH has unfortunately not continued the positive trend it built in the last few years, and by reducing its aggregate rating by 0.15 points, it has worsened its rank from 77th to 91st place out of a total of 159 countries. Thus, BiH falls out of the group of countries considered economically freer and is again classified among those with limited economic freedoms, a group it was in 2 years ago. However, rating fluctuations are common, so we can hope that this decline is temporary, and that our society will still continue on its path towards establishing a healthy market economy, says Edo Omerčević, director of the Center for Business Affirmation. 

Other Countries

Hong Kong has the highest level of economic freedom in the world, with a score of 9.03 out of 10, followed by Singapore (8.71), New Zealand (8.35), Switzerland (8.25), Canada (7.98), Georgia (7.98), Ireland (7.98), Mauritius (7.98), United Arab Emirates (7.98), Australia (7.93), and Great Britain (7.93). Other countries worth mentioning are the United States (7.75 out of 10), Germany (7.55), Japan (7.42), Russia (6.66), India (6.50), and China (6.45).

About the Index of Economic Freedom

Economic Freedom of the World measures the degree to which the policies and institutions of countries support economic freedom. The 2015 report was prepared by James Gwartney of Florida State University; Robert A. Lawson of Southern Methodist University; and Joshua Hall of West Virginia University. This year's publication evaluates 158 countries and Hong Kong. The report also updates data from earlier reports where changes have occurred.