The 2018 Economic Freedom of the World Report recently published by the Fraser Institute ranks Mauritius 1st in Sub Saharan Africa and 8th worldwide. A total of 162 countries participated.

The index measures the degree to which the policies and institutions of countries are supportive of economic freedom, which it defines as being based on personal choice voluntary exchange, freedom to enter markets and compete, and security if the person and privately owned property. Participating countries are assessed in five broad areas: (1) Size of Government (2) Legal System and Property Rights (3) Sound Money (4) Freedom to trade internationally (5) Regulation. In its latest report, the Fraser Institute has introduced a new ‘Gender Disparity Index’.

In the Sub-Saharan Africa region, Mauritius topped the list (8th worldwide) and was followed by Rwanda (40th worldwide) and Botswana (44th worldwide).

At the global level, the top ten countries by ranking order were (1) Hong Kong (2) Singapore (3) New Zealand (4) Switzerland (5) Ireland (6) United States (7) Georgia (8) Mauritius (9) United Kingdom (10) Australia and Canada (the latter two tied for 10th rank). As usual, Hong Kong and Singapore remained at the top two positions. The United States came back to the top ten after several years, Canada also returned after being ranked 11th in 2015.

The rankings of some other major countries are Germany (20) Japan (41) Italy (54) France (57) Mexico (82) Russia (87) India (96) China (108) and Brazil (144).

The 2018 Economic Freedom of the World Report is available here