The Czech Republic is the 27th most economically free country out of 165 monitored countries in the world. Last year, the Czechia was in 24th place according to the revised ranking. This follows from the published ranking “Economic Freedom of the World Index” of the Canadian Fraser Institute, which the Liberal Institute said in a press release today. According to the ranking, Hong Kong is still the freest country in the world, while Venezuela remained the least free.
The index has been published since 1996. The data published this year are based on data from 2019. The delay is due to the need to wait for data from 165 countries around the world. The index consists of five indicators relating to the size of the public sector, the level of the rule of law, international trade or overall regulation. Another factor is the monetary environment of the country and the inflation environment.
“Last year there was a slightly paradoxical result, when the index of economic freedom in the Czech Republic rose in absolute terms, but the Czechia was offended in the rankings because it grew faster in absolute numbers in other European countries. .
In the area of overall regulation, the Czechia is in 15th place, in the area of foreign trade in 29th place and in the state of the legal system in 28th place. In the case of the state of finances, the Czechia is in 80th place and even in 90th place in the size of the government.
“If we look in more detail at the Czech year-on-year results, we see a slight deterioration in all components. This trend may be alarming, especially given that in the following years 2020 and 2021 (we recall that the data in the ranking is two years late) to steps that not only greatly increase government spending, in many respects not exactly in a productive direction, but also because, for example, last year inflation was higher than the target, “said Pánek.
The Liberal Institute has warned that Hong Kong has been at the top of the ladder continuously since 1990. However, this year’s report warns that recent events are likely to see a decline in the Hong Kong score as soon as 2020 and 2021 data become available. ” from the Chinese Communist Party will negatively affect economic freedom in Hong Kong, “said Fred McMahon, director of economic freedom research at the Fraser Institute.