The annual Economic Freedom of the World report 2014 was released on Oct. 07, 2014 at an international event in Brussels. As Co-publishers of the report, Samriddhi Foundation released the report in Nepal like the previous years. Acc. to the report, Hong Kong, once again, is the most economically free jurisdiction in the world. Nepal ranks 126 out of 152 countries and continues to be one of the least economically free countries with an overall score of 6.16, which is slightly lower than last year's overall score. Download the full report and read more here : http://www.freetheworld.com/release.html

1. Press Release
Nepal continues as one of the least economically free countries in the world:
Economic Freedom of the World Report, 2014
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For Immediate Release
Contacts: Manogya Sharma, 9851010218, manogya@samriddhi.org
Surath Giri, 9851077430, surath@samriddhi.org
Kathmandu, Oct 8, 2014: The annual Economic Freedom of the World report 2014 was released
yesterday in Brussels. Like previous years, Samriddhi Foundation (one of the co-publishers of the report)
has released the report in Nepal this year. The report demonstrates a strong link between economic
freedom and prosperity whereby the most economically free countries have shown to offer the highest
quality of life and personal freedoms. According to the report, Hong Kong, once again, is the most
economically free jurisdiction in the world and Nepal continues to be one of the least economically free
countries ranking 126 out of 152 countries with an overall score of 6.16, which is slightly lower than last
year's overall score.
The report measures the economic freedom (levels of personal choice, ability to enter markets, security
of privately owned property, rule of law, etc.) by analysing the policies and institutions of 152 countries.
Nepal's scores reveal weaknesses in Legal System and Property Rights, Labor Market Regulations and
Regulatory regime for trade and business.
Lower level of economic freedom could be attributed as a reason behind's Nepal's inability to catch up
with other developing nations which are experiencing higher levels of economic growth owing to
reforms that make it easier to trade and do business.
The Fraser Institute, Canada's top ranked think tank, produces the annual Economic Freedom of the
World report in cooperation with the Economic Freedom Network, a group of independent research and
educational institutes in nearly 90 nations and territories. Samriddhi, The Prosperity Foundation is one
of the co-publishing institutes and has been a member of the Economic Freedom Network for the last 8
years. The report is the world’s premier measurement of economic freedom, using 42 distinct variables
to create an index, ranking countries based on economic freedom, which is measured in five areas: size
of government, legal structure and security of property rights, access to sound money, freedom to trade
internationally, and regulation of credit, labour and business.
This peer-reviewed report is released annually and uses the data of 2 years back. Therefore, the 2014
report provides ratings for the year 2012, the most recent year for which comprehensive data is
available. Nepal showed mixed performance in regards to all the five measured areas of economic
freedom in the 2014 report. Though its ranking and scores in some of the areas have improved, Nepal’s
overall performance in terms of economic freedom continues to be low.

2. Press Release
Nepal’s score in 5 key areas of economic freedom (from 1 to 10, where a higher value indicates a higher
level of economic freedom and a higher ranking) are as follows:
• Size of government: score decreased from 7.6 in the previous year to 7.4 this year
• Legal structures and security of property rights: score unchanged at 4.2
• Access to sound money: score increased slightly from 6.3 in the previous year to 6.4 this year
• Freedom to trade internationally: score unchanged at 6.4
• Regulation of credit, labour and business: score slightly decreased from 6.5 in previous year to 6.4
this year
The Economic Freedom of the World Report uses 42 variables to construct a summary index and
measure the degree of economic freedom of countries around the world. The cornerstones of
economic freedom are personal choice, voluntary exchange, freedom to compete, and security of
private property. Economic freedom is measured in five different areas: (1) size of government, (2) legal
structure and security of property rights, (3) access to sound money, (4) freedom to trade
internationally, and (5) regulation of credit, labor, and business.
According to the report, based on 2012 statistics (the most recent year of available data), the top 10
most economically free jurisdictions are Hong Kong (which continues its streak of number one rankings),
Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland, Mauritius, United Arab Emirates, Canada, Australia, Jordan and
(tied for 10th) Chile and Finland. The United States, once considered a bastion of economic freedom,
now ranks 12th in the world, tied with the United Kingdom. Other notable rankings include Japan (23rd),
Germany (28th), Russia (98th), India (110th) and China (115th).
The 10 lowest-ranked countries are Myanmar, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Chad, Iran,
Algeria, Argentina, Zimbabwe, Republic of Congo and Venezuela, which retains the title of the world’s
least economically free country. Some despotic countries such as North Korea and Cuba could not be
ranked due to lack of data.
Globally, the average economic freedom score dropped slightly to 6.84 out of 10 from 6.87 last year.
The full report is available at www.freetheworld.com
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About, Samriddhi The Prosperity Foundation
Samriddhi, The Prosperity Foundation is a public policy think tank initiated in 2006 in Nepal to promote
sound public policy research for a free and prosperous Nepal. Samriddhi has been a member of the
Economic Freedom Network for the last 7 years and annually releases the Economic Freedom of the
World Report in collaboration with the Fraser Institute, Canada. This year again, Samriddhi has joined
hands with SEJON and FNCCI to release the 2013 Report on Economic Freedom of the world.