Here's where Canada ranks globally for human freedom
Sometimes it’s easy to take your freedom in a country for granted, but a new report puts things into perspective.
Canada’s Fraser Institute and U.S.-based Cato Institute, two public policy think tanks, released their annual Human Freedom Index on Tuesday.
The index measures the degree to which people are allowed to make their own personal and economic choices using 87 indicators grouped into 12 areas. This includes the rule of law, safety and security, identity and relationships (i.e. the freedom to choose your relationship partner), freedom of movement, speech, assembly, religion, freedom from taxes, regulations, and freedom to trade internationally.
Fraser Institute/Cato Institute
The report found that freedom has declined for 89.6 per cent of the world’s population in recent years. It has affected every region of the globe, rich and poor countries, and democracies and non-democracies.
“Governments around the world have recently been restricting freedom of expression,
freedom of association and assembly, freedom of movement, and the freedom to use sound
money, and the impact is alarming,” stated Matthew D. Mitchell, Fraser Institute senior
fellow and co-author of this year’s report.
The index ranked 165 countries around the world from 2019 to 2023 (the latest year of available data), and Canada placed fairly high on the list.
According to the report, Canada is the 12th freest country in the world. It scored a 9.33 (out of 10) for personal freedom, a 7.92 for economic, and 8.74 for human. Overall, the True North’s score only dropped by 0.03, and its ranking hasn’t changed since 2022.
Broken down by category, Canada received its highest score for relationships, boasting a perfect 10 for same-sex relationships. It also scored highly in freedom of expression and information (9.8) and association, assembly, and civil society (9.2).
Delpixel/Shutterstock
The highest ranking Canada has received on the index was 10th place in 2009. The country is up two spots from 14th place in 2021.
By continent, Canada took the number one spot in North America, edging out the United States by a small margin. The U.S. ranked 15th globally with a personal score of 9.15, an economic score of 8.10, and a human score of 8.71.
Fraser Institute/Cato Institute
The top spot went to Switzerland for the fifth year in a row. It received a personal score of 9.77, an economic score of 8.28, and a human score of 9.15. Its ranking has remained unchanged since 2017. Denmark follows closely behind in second place, moving up one spot from 2022, and New Zealand rounds out the top three.
The report pointed out some interesting findings, including a huge drop for Hong Kong. According to the index, it was the third freest country globally as recently as 2011, but it plummeted all the way down to 53rd place. It attributed the drop to a significant decrease in freedom of association and assembly, where it ranks 143rd.
The ranking concluded that people in freer countries are wealthier, healthier and are more satisfied with their lives.
“Many contend that freedom is valuable as an end to itself. But it also makes life better,” stated Mitchell.
Here are the 10 freest and least-free countries in 2023:
Fraser Institute/Cato Institute
Check out the full report.