Methods

Human Freedom Index

Personal, civil and economic freedom together, the economic half being Economic Freedom of the World.

Cato Institute and Fraser Institute · The publisher's page · All methods

What it looks at

Combines other sources — What the law says · What happens

What it is made of

  • Rule of law
  • Security and safety
  • Movement
  • Religion
  • Association, assembly and civil society
  • Expression and information
  • Relationships
  • Economic freedom (the five areas of Economic Freedom of the World)

It takes inputs from: Economic Freedom of the World; V-Dem indicators (CC BY-SA)

May its data be shown here?

May not be shown

All rights reserved, and part of it is V-Dem's share-alike data.

The publisher's terms, quotedCopyright © 2023 by the Cato Institute and the Fraser Institute. All rights reserved.

Questions to ask of it

  • Which sources does it combine, and does any of them count twice (the same survey feeding two parts)?
  • Are the weights argued for or simply chosen? A ranking that changes when the weights change says more about the weights than the countries; on Solon you can set your own.
  • Does it mix what the law says with what happens? Solon keeps those apart, so a gap between them shows instead of averaging away.
  • Its inputs carry their own choices and licences, listed above.
  • Its figures cannot be shown here. Read them at the publisher's, and weigh them with the questions above.
  • Some of how it works has not been read yet; until it is, judge it on what is listed.

Not read yet

These are left open rather than filled in from memory.

  • The 2025 edition and its data page (cato.org refused the request)

Read these figures with help

The facts below are worked out by program from this page's figures, with no AI. The explanation, if you ask for one, is written by an AI from these facts only, and is checked against them before you see it.

The facts, in plain words

  1. F1Human Freedom Index, published by Cato Institute and Fraser Institute, says it measures: Personal, civil and economic freedom together, the economic half being Economic Freedom of the World.
  2. F2How it is made: composite. What it looks at: de jure, de facto.
  3. F3Its parts, as the publisher names them: Rule of law; Security and safety; Movement; Religion; Association, assembly and civil society; Expression and information; Relationships; Economic freedom (the five areas of Economic Freedom of the World).
  4. F4It takes inputs from: Economic Freedom of the World; V-Dem indicators (CC BY-SA).
  5. F5Licence: not loadable. The terms say: "Copyright © 2023 by the Cato Institute and the Fraser Institute. All rights reserved." All rights reserved, and part of it is V-Dem's share-alike data.
  6. F6Not read yet: The 2025 edition and its data page (cato.org refused the request).
  7. F7A question to ask of it: Which sources does it combine, and does any count twice?
  8. F8A question to ask of it: Are the weights argued for or simply chosen, and does the ranking survive other weights?
  9. F9A question to ask of it: Does it mix what the law says with what happens?
  10. F10A question to ask of it: Its inputs carry their own choices and licences.
  11. F11A question to ask of it: Its figures cannot be shown on Solon.
  12. F12A question to ask of it: Part of how it works has not been read yet.
  13. F13Source read on 2026-11-09: Cato Institute: Human Freedom Index 2023 (this page refused a program; the copyright line was read in the 2023 report's PDF on a third-party mirror).

Where this description comes from