List of freedom indices

There are several non-governmental organizations that publish and maintain assessments of the state of freedom in the world, according to their own various definitions of the term, and rank countries as being free, partly free, or unfree using various measures of freedom, including political rights, economic rights, and civil liberties.

• Freedom in the World published by Freedom House ranks countries by political rights and civil liberties that are derived in large measure from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Countries are assessed as free, partly free, or unfree.
• The Index of Economic Freedom is an annual report published by The Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation. Countries are assessed as free, mostly free, moderately free, mostly unfree, and repressed.
• Worldwide Press Freedom Index is published by Reporters Without Borders. Countries are assessed as having a good situation, a satisfactory situation, noticeable problems, a difficult situation, or a very serious situation.
• The Economic Freedom of the World Index is a report published by the Fraser Institute. It is a numeric index and its results are not (yet) included in the table below.
• The Economist Intelligence Unit's Index of Democracy is an assessment of countries' democracy. Countries are rated to be either Full Democracies, Flawed Democracies, Hybrid Regimes, or Authoritarian. Full democracies, flawed democracies, and hybrid regimes are considered to be democracies , and the authoritarian nations are considered to be dictatorial. The Economist bases its ratings based on: civil liberties, conduct of elections, media freedom, participation, public opinion, functioning government, corruption, and stability. [1]
• The Free Existence Drug Freedom Index is a quantitative index which rates the legality of drug usage, possession, and sales in most countries across the world. As it is the first attempt to quantify worldwide drug laws of its kind, there is presently some reliance on anecdotal evidence in lieu of direct legal analysis due to lack of access to primary sources (i.e., the actual written laws of some nations).[2]
• The Free Existence Freedom Index is a meta-index which incorporates several of the freedom indices listed above into a single web interface. Users can specify how much they care about each area of freedom (from Don't Care through Crucial), and these preferences are used to weight or exclude individual freedom index values and produce a final score reflecting the most free country given the user's set of values. This weight-value multiplication approach can be used to selectively rank only values from a specific subset of freedom indices, or to enable a user to identify the country or countries that best match his or her preferences.[3]

Current assessments

Here is a table of the assessments in each index for most countries of the world. For exact rankings rather than assessments, refer to the individual index articles.

State of world freedom in 2007 according to Freedom House's 2008 survey

  Free (92)

  Partly Free (65)

  Not Free (52)

Map of countries by 2008 Economic Freedom of the World, published by the Fraser Institute

2008 press freedom rankings according to Reporters Without Borders

The Economist's 2006 Democracy Index map: lighter colours represent more democracy

Index	Scale
Freedom in the World	free			partly free				not free
Index of Economic Freedom	free		mostly free		moderately free		mostly unfree		repressed
Worldwide Press Freedom Index	good situation		satisfactory situation		noticeable problems		difficult situation		very serious situation
Democracy Rating	full democracy		flawed democracy			hybrid regime			authoritarian

Country	Freedom House	Economic Freedom	Press Freedom	Democracy Rating (2008)
Afghanistan	5 not free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian
Albania	3 partly free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	4 hybrid regime
Algeria	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Andorra	1 free	n/a	n/a	n/a
Angola	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian
Antigua and Barbuda	1 free	n/a	n/a	n/a
Argentina	1 free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Armenia	3 partly free	2 mostly free	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Australia	1 free	1 free	2 satisfactory situation	1 full democracy
Austria	1 free	1 free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Azerbaijan	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Bahamas	1 free	2 mostly free	1 good situation	n/a
Bahrain	3 partly free	2 mostly free	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Bangladesh	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Barbados	1 free	2 mostly free	1 good situation	n/a
Belarus	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Belgium	1 free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	1 full democracy
Belize	1 free	2 mostly free	n/a	n/a
Benin	1 free	4 mostly unfree	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Bhutan	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Bolivia	3 partly free	2 mostly free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Bosnia and Herzegovina	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	2 satisfactory situation	4 hybrid regime
Botswana	1 free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Brazil	1 free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	1 full democracy
Brunei	5 not free	5 repressed	3 difficult situation	n/a
Bulgaria	1 free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Burkina Faso	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	2 satisfactory situation	5 authoritarian
Burundi	3 partly free	2 mostly free	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Cambodia	5 not free	2 mostly free	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Cameroon	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian
Canada	1 free	1 free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Cape Verde	1 free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Central African Republic	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Chad	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Chile	1 free	1 free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Colombia	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	2 flawed democracy
Comoros	3 partly free	5 repressed	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian
Costa Rica	1 free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	1 full democracy
Côte d'Ivoire	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Congo-Brazzaville	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	2 satisfactory situation	5 authoritarian
Congo-Kinshasa	5 not free	5 repressed	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Croatia	1 free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Cuba	5 not free	5 repressed	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Cyprus	1 free	1 free	2 satisfactory situation	1 full democracy
Czech Republic	1 free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	1 full democracy
Denmark	1 free	1 free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Djibouti	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Dominica	1 free	2 mostly free	1 good situation	n/a
Dominican Republic	1 free	4 mostly unfree	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
East Timor	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Ecuador	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	2 satisfactory situation	4 hybrid regime
Egypt	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
El Salvador	1 free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Equatorial Guinea	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Eritrea	5 not free	5 repressed	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Estonia	1 free	1 free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Ethiopia	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Fiji	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	2 satisfactory situation	4 hybrid regime
Finland	1 free	1 free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
France	1 free	1 free	2 satisfactory situation	1 full democracy
Gabon	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Gambia	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Georgia	3 partly free	2 mostly free	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Germany	1 free	1 free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Ghana	1 free	4 mostly unfree	2 satisfactory situation	4 hybrid regime
Greece	1 free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	1 full democracy
Grenada	1 free	n/a	2 satisfactory situation	n/a
Guatemala	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Guinea	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian
Guinea-Bissau	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian
Guyana	1 free	4 mostly unfree	4 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Haiti	3 partly free	5 repressed	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Honduras	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Hong Kong	3 free	1 free	2 good situation	4 in-direct democracy
Hungary	1 free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Iceland	1 free	1 free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
India	1 free	4 mostly unfree	3 some problems	2 flawed democracy
Indonesia	1 free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	2 flawed democracy
Iran	5 not free	5 repressed	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Iraq	5 not free	n/a	unique situation	4 hybrid regime
Ireland	1 free	1 free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Israel	1 free	3 moderately free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Italy	1 free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	1 full democracy
Jamaica	1 free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Japan	1 free	2 mostly free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Jordan	3 partly free	3 moderately free	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Kazakhstan	5 not free	3 moderately free	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Kenya	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Kiribati	1 free	5 repressed	n/a	n/a
North Korea	5 not free	5 repressed	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Korea, South	1 free	2 moderately free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Kuwait	3 partly free	2 mostly free	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian
Kyrgyzstan	3 partly free	2 mostly free	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Laos	5 not free	5 repressed	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Latvia	1 free	2 mostly free	1 good situation	2 flawed democracy
Lebanon	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Lesotho	1 free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Liberia	3 partly free	5 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Libya	5 not free	5 repressed	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Liechtenstein	1 free	1 free	1 good situation	n/a
Lithuania	1 free	2 mostly free	1 good situation	2 flawed democracy
Luxembourg	1 free	1 free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Macedonia	3 partly free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Madagascar	3 partly free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	4 hybrid regime
Malawi	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Malaysia	3 partly free	2 mostly free	4 difficult situation	2 flawed democracy
Maldives	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	n/a
Mali	1 free	4 mostly unfree	2 satisfactory situation	4 hybrid regime
Malta	1 free	2 mostly free	n/a	1 full democracy
Marshall Islands	1 free	n/a	n/a	n/a
Mauritania	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Mauritius	1 free	1 free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Myanmar (Burma)	5 not free	5 repressed	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Mexico	1 free	2 mostly free	3 noticeable problems	1 full democracy
Federated States of Micronesia	1 free	4 mostly unfree	n/a	n/a
Moldova	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Monaco	1 free	n/a	n/a	n/a
Mongolia	1 free	3 moderately free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Montenegro	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Morocco	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Mozambique	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	2 satisfactory situation	4 hybrid regime
Namibia	1 free	3 moderately free	1 good situation	2 flawed democracy
Nauru	1 free	n/a	n/a	n/a
Nepal	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	5 very serious situation	4 hybrid regime
Netherlands	1 free	1 free	2 satisfactory situation	1 full democracy
New Zealand	1 free	1 free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Nicaragua	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Niger	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	2 satisfactory situation	5 authoritarian
Nigeria	3 partly free	5 repressed	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Norway	1 free	2 mostly free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Oman	5 not free	3 moderately free	2 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian
Pakistan	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Palau	1 free	n/a	n/a	n/a
Palestinian territories	5 not free	3 moderately free	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Panama	1 free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Papua New Guinea	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Paraguay	3 partly free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
People's Republic of China	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Peru	1 free	2 mostly free	4 difficult situation	2 flawed democracy
Philippines	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Poland	1 free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Portugal	1 free	2 mostly free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Qatar	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Romania	1 free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Russia	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	5 very serious situation	5 hybrid regime
Rwanda	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Saint Kitts and Nevis	1 free	n/a	n/a	n/a
Saint Lucia	1 free	2 mostly free	n/a	n/a
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	1 free	2 mostly free	n/a	n/a
Samoa	1 free	4 mostly unfree	n/a	n/a
San Marino	1 free	n/a	n/a	n/a
São Tomé and Príncipe	1 free	5 repressed	n/a	5 authoritarian
Saudi Arabia	5 not free	3 moderately free	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Senegal	1 free	2 mostly free	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Serbia	1 free	2 mostly free	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Seychelles	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	2 flawed democracy
Sierra Leone	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Singapore	3 partly free	1 free	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Slovakia	1 free	2 mostly free	1 good situation	2 flawed democracy
Slovenia	1 free	2 mostly free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Solomon Islands	3 partly free	5 repressed	n/a	n/a
Somalia	5 not free	n/a	4 difficult situation	n/a
Somaliland	3 partly free	n/a	n/a	n/a
South Africa	1 free	3 moderately free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Spain	1 free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	1 full democracy
Sri Lanka	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Sudan	5 not free	n/a	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Suriname	1 free	4 mostly unfree	1 good situation	2 flawed democracy
Swaziland	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian
Sweden	1 free	1 free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Switzerland	1 free	1 free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
Syria	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Taiwan (Republic of China)	1 free	1 free	1 good situation	2 flawed democracy
Tajikistan	5 not free	5 repressed	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian
Tanzania	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	2 satisfactory situation	4 hybrid regime
Thailand	3 partly free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Togo	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	5 authoritarian
Tonga	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	n/a
Trinidad and Tobago	1 free	2 mostly free	1 good situation	2 flawed democracy
Tunisia	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Turkey	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Turkmenistan	5 not free	5 repressed	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Tuvalu	1 free	n/a	n/a	n/a
Uganda	3 partly free	2 mostly free	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Ukraine	1 free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	2 flawed democracy
United Arab Emirates	5 not free	3 moderately free	2 satisfactory situation	5 authoritarian
United Kingdom	1 free	1 free	1 good situation	1 full democracy
United States	1 free	1 free	1 free	1 full democracy
Uruguay	1 free	2 mostly free	2 satisfactory situation	2 flawed democracy
Uzbekistan	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Vanuatu	1 free	4 mostly unfree	1 satisfactory situation	n/a
Venezuela	3 partly free	5 repressed	4 difficult situation	4 hybrid regime
Vietnam	5 not free	4 mostly unfree	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian
Yemen	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	4 difficult situation	5 authoritarian
Zambia	3 partly free	4 mostly unfree	3 noticeable problems	4 hybrid regime
Zimbabwe	5 not free	5 repressed	5 very serious situation	5 authoritarian

Summary

According to the rankings of the table above, the most free (the "all-blue") countries are (in alphabetical order):

• Austria
• Canada
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• Germany
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Luxembourg
• Mauritius
• New Zealand
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• United Kingdom

And the least free (the "all-red") are:

• Cuba
• Eritrea
• Iran
• Laos
• Libya
• Myanmar
• North Korea
• Turkmenistan
• Zimbabwe

See also

• Areopagitica: A speech of Mr John Milton for the liberty of unlicensed printing to the Parliament of England
• Freedom House
• Freedom in the World
• Media transparency
• Transparency (humanities)
• Transparency (market)
• United Nations Parliamentary Assembly

External links

• The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Index of Democracy 2008
• Freedom House's Freedom in the World 2008
• Freedom House's Map of Free Press
• The Wall Street Journal's Index of Economic Freedom
• The Fraser Institute's Economic Freedom of the World
• Internationale Medienhilfe (IMH) - International organization for press freedom Template:De
• Reporters Without Borders' Worldwide Press Freedom Index - 2002 / 2003 / 2004 / 2005 / 2006 / 2007 / 2008
• The Free Existence Drug Freedom Index 2008
• The Free Existence Freedom Index