Methods

Index of Economic Freedom

Economic freedom in twelve factors grouped as rule of law, government size, regulatory efficiency and open markets, for 184 countries.

The Heritage Foundation · The publisher's page · All methods

What it looks at

Combines other sources — What the law says · What happens

Coverage: 184 countries in the 2026 data file.

What it is made of

  • Property Rights
  • Judicial Effectiveness
  • Government Integrity
  • Tax Burden
  • Government Spending
  • Fiscal Health
  • Business Freedom
  • Labor Freedom
  • Monetary Freedom
  • Trade Freedom
  • Investment Freedom
  • Financial Freedom

May its data be shown here?

Needs permission

All rights reserved; the data file states no licence.

The publisher's terms, quoted© 2025 by The Heritage Foundation … 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 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.

  • How the twelve factors are scored and weighted (the methodology chapter)

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. F1Index of Economic Freedom, published by The Heritage Foundation, says it measures: Economic freedom in twelve factors grouped as rule of law, government size, regulatory efficiency and open markets, for 184 countries.
  2. F2How it is made: composite. What it looks at: de jure, de facto.
  3. F3Its parts, as the publisher names them: Property Rights; Judicial Effectiveness; Government Integrity; Tax Burden; Government Spending; Fiscal Health; Business Freedom; Labor Freedom; Monetary Freedom; Trade Freedom; Investment Freedom; Financial Freedom.
  4. F4Coverage: 184 countries in the 2026 data file.
  5. F5Licence: permission. The terms say: "© 2025 by The Heritage Foundation … All rights reserved." All rights reserved; the data file states no licence.
  6. F6Not read yet: How the twelve factors are scored and weighted (the methodology chapter).
  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 figures cannot be shown on Solon.
  11. F11A question to ask of it: Part of how it works has not been read yet.
  12. F12Source read on 2026-11-09: The Heritage Foundation: 2026 Index of Economic Freedom data file.

Where this description comes from