Russia Drops in Economic Freedom Rankings

Russia has taken 134th place in the latest ranking of counties by economic freedom. The findings were published in the annual Index of Economic Freedom, a joint report of the U.S.-based Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal. A total of 155 countries were included in the survey.

Of the countries comprising the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), only Belarus and Turkmenistan were ranked below Russia. Armenia stood in 28th place, Kyrgyzstan 70th, Kazakhstan 76th, and Moldova 89th.

Hong Kong took first place in this year’s results, receiving a metric of 90.6 out of 100 (Russia received a 49.9). Singapore and Ireland were second and third, respectively, and the United States and Austria filled out the top-five countries.

In the previous Index, Russia was situated between China and Nepal at 120th place. The document, now in its 14th year, rates countries based on 10 criteria, including “investment freedom,” “government expenditures” and “freedom of trade”. Russia’s lowest measure was “freedom from corruption.” On the other end, Russia ranked 5th in the world for “fiscal freedom.”

The paper’s authors assert that freedom of a country’s economy and the pace of its development are directly correlated.