Ventures Dialogue

Hong Kong is again ranked the world’s freest economy by Vancouver’s Fraser Institute, scoring 8.94 out of 10 points.  The report compares the level of economic freedom in 141 economies.

The economies ranked 2nd to 10th are: Singapore (8.57), New Zealand (8.28), Switzerland (8.2), UK (8.07), Chile (8.06), Canada (8.05), Australia (8.04), USA (8.04) and Ireland (7.92).  

Among the top ten, the scores of most of the economies have dropped, except for Hong Kong and Chile.  Japan ranks 27th, South Korea 20th, and Mainland China 93rd (86th in 2007).
Forty-two variables are used to construct a summary index and measure the economic freedom in five broad areas.  Amongst these five major areas of assessment, compared with last year, Hong Kong improves its scores on “size of government” (9.08 to 9.13); “legal system and security of property rights” (8.02 to 8.19), “freedom to trade internationally” (9.41 to 9.5); whilst the scores have dropped in respect of “access to sound money” (9.48 and 9.36) and “regulation of credit, labour and business” (8.62 to 8.54).
Relative to Singapore, Hong Kong fares better in regard to “size of government”, “access to sound money”, “freedom to trade internationally” and “regulation of credit, labour and business”, while Singapore receives more favourable rating in “legal structure and security of property rights”.

The Hong Kong SAR Government welcome Fraser Institute’s assessment.  The latest report has once again affirmed Hong Kong’s steadfast achievement as the freest economy in the world.  Read more.