Hong Kong was rated the world’s freest economy for a 17th straight year in a ranking by the Heritage Foundation, above rivals Singapore and Australia for the title.
Hong Kong, with a score of 89.7, is well above the world average of 59.7, the Washington-based Heritage Foundation said in its 2011 Index of Economic Freedom report released yesterday.
The study assesses 183 economies, out of which China ranks 135th.
OTHER ECONOMIES
Singapore was in second place, with a freedom score of 87.2, up 1.1 points from last year, while Australia rounded out the top three, scoring 82.5, down 0.1 from last year.
“Hong Kong, one of the world’s most competitive financial and business centers, demonstrated a high degree of resilience during the global financial crisis,” the report said.
Freedom in trade and finance was the biggest boost to Hong Kong’s ranking, while investment freedom and property rights, business and monetary freedom all scored highly.
US, UK DOWN
The US fell to the ninth freest from eight last year and the UK slipped to 16th place from 11th last year because of continued policy responses to the global economic turmoil, it added.
North Korea ranked 179th, at the bottom of the list with a score of 1.0, followed by Zimbabwe in 178th place with a score of 22.1. Afghanistan, Iraq, Liechtenstein and Sudan were unranked.
Taiwan ranked 25th with a score of 70.8, up 0.4 points from last year.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
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