Hong Kong retains top spot as world's freest economy, Singapore ranks third

Four Asia-Pacific jurisdictions ranked among the world's top 10 for economic freedom.

Hong Kong has retained its position as the world’s most economically free jurisdiction in the latest Economic Freedom of the World 2026 Annual Report released by the Fraser Institute.

It was followed by Switzerland in second place and Singapore in third, while New Zealand and the United States rounded out the global top five.

Among the five areas of assessment, Hong Kong again ranked first in ‘Freedom to trade internationally’ and remained second globally in ‘Regulation’.

A spokesman for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government attributed the city's performance to its continued commitment to maintaining free port status, a zero-tariff policy, and a simple and low tax regime, providing a secure, stable, fair, predictable and internationalised business and investment environment for investors and entrepreneurs from around the world.

“While offering convenient access to both the Mainland and international markets, Hong Kong continues to practise common law in both Chinese and English. It also offers financial, shipping, trading and professional services that align seamlessly with international best standards, supported by an efficient government structure and a clean and professional civil service,” said the spokesman.

Latest economic freedom ratings:

1    Hong Kong SAR, China
2    Switzerland
3    Singapore
4    New Zealand
5    United States
6    Ireland
7    Denmark
8    Australia
9    Mauritius
10  Finland
10  Netherlands
10  United Kingdom

The index measures economic freedom using 46 components and subcomponents grouped into five areas:

1. Size of Government
   
2. Legal System and Property Rights
   
3. Sound Money
   
4. Freedom to Trade Internationally
   
5. Regulation

Each component and subcomponent is placed on a scale from zero to 10, reflecting the distribution of the underlying data.

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