Asia-Pacific countries score “moderately free” in the 2018 economic freedom index

Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand were amongst the world’s free economies.

The Heritage Foundation’s latest statistics showed that Asia-Pacific countries scored 61 in the 2018 index of economic freedom, which is just a little above the line of moderately free, up from 60.4 last year.

The index gave scores based on four categories: rule of law, government size, regulatory efficiency, and open markets.

Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand were four of the world’s free economies, whilst Taiwan, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan and Macau were ranked as mostly free.

Hong Kong topped the global ranking, with a score of 90.2, whilst Singapore came second with a score of 88.8. The two countries have ranked the first and second for 24 consecutive years.

“Many of the Asia-Pacific countries are performing well in controlling the size of government, maintaining the rule of law, and regulating economic activity efficiently,” The Heritage Foundation said.

Meanwhile, the global average score was at 61.1, which is the highest recorded in the 24-year history of the Index, The Heritage Foundation said.

Out of the 180 countries that were ranked, 102 countries improved, whilst 75 declined.

The people you want to reach are already in this room.

Every quarter, SBR lands on the desks of the founders, CFOs, and directors running Asia's most consequential companies. Every day, they open our newsletter and read our website. It's a room that took twenty years to build — and it's the one most of our partners are trying to get into.

The good news is that the door is open. We work with companies on thought leadership articles, sponsored content, industry summits across Southeast Asia, regional awards programmes, podcasts, and media placements in print and digital. The shape of the right partnership depends on what you're trying to do, which is why we'd rather start with a conversation than send a rate card.

If you have something this room should know about, tell us. We'll tell you honestly whether we can help, and how.

No rate cards until we understand the brief. It's a better use of everyone's time.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia