The Czech Republic has reached the 22nd position among the 178 countries included on Economic Freedom Index list.

The Index of Economic Freedom was introduced in 1995 by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal.

Specialists of The Heritage Foundation measure economic freedom based on 12 quantitative and qualitative factors, grouped into four broad categories, or pillars, of economic freedom:

• Rule of Law (property rights, government integrity, judicial effectiveness);
• Government Size (government spending, tax burden, fiscal health);
• Regulatory Efficiency (business freedom, labor freedom, monetary freedom);
• Open Markets (trade freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom).

The Czech Republic is the only Central European country placed in the second category of “mostly free” countries, scoring of 73.7, decreasing by 0.5 point compared to last year.

“Amid rising populism and political polarization, the government has been pulled slightly to the left (…) but is expected to continue pro-EU, pro-business, and fiscally prudent policies”, experts from the Heritage Foundation point out.

The report highlights the Czech Republic’s attractiveness, with a prosperous market economy, one of the highest GDP growth in the EU, the lowest unemployment level in Europe and rising standard of living.

Two Asian economies, Hong Kong and Singapore, are once again the most economically free territories in the world.

Immediately following the two far eastern economies, New Zealand, Switzerland, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Maurice, in Africa, have secured the top-ranking spots, respectively.

Meanwhile, Venezuela and Libya are at the bottom of the table, behind Sudan, Algeria, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, Egypt, Congo, and Iraq.