Poland still with distant score in Economic Freedom ranking
23:58
On March 4, the Heritage Foundation published its annual Index of Economic Freedom. In the emerging Europe region, Estonia and Georgia continue to lead the way. Most countries are ‘mostly free’ or ‘moderately free’, except Ukraine, which is the region’s lowest-ranked country.
“The coronavirus epidemic struck a world in which economic freedom was rising rapidly and more countries than ever were benefitting from their participation in the market-based globalized economy. The pandemic-related business and travel restrictions imposed in many countries have set back that process significantly, and while this edition of the Index records only the initial effects of those restrictions, they are of a magnitude that is likely to affect both freedom and economic performance for several years to come, the report reads.
Poland earned 69.7 points and this score gave our country the 41st position in the world and 25th in Europe. Still, only five countries (Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, and Ireland) earned very high economic freedom scores of 80 or more, putting them in the ranks of the economically “free.”
Thirty-three countries earned a designation as “mostly free” by recording scores of 70.0 to 79.9 and an additional 59 countries (one of them was Poland) were considered at least “moderately free” with scores of 60.0 to 69.9. Thus, a total of 97 countries, or 54 percent of all nations and territories graded in the 2021 Index, have institutional environments in which
individuals and private enterprises benefit from at least a moderate degree of economic freedom in the pursuit of greater economic development and prosperity.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, 46 percent of the countries graded in the 2021 Index (81 economies) have registered economic freedom scores below 60. Of those, 63 economies are considered “mostly unfree” (scores of 50.0 to 59.9). These may have some features of the market system but fall notably short in areas related to the rule of law and the openness of their markets. Major economies such as China, India, Brazil, and Argentina fall into this group.
(WBJ)
