Lithuania climbs again in Index of Economic Freedom

Lithuania has cemented its position as one of the world’s freest economies by climbing two places to 13^th globally in the Index of Economic Freedom. The index, a guide published annually by the Wall Street Journal and US think tank the Heritage foundation, ranks countries using a range of criteria. These include trade freedom, private property rights, freedom from corruption, efficiency and transparency in governmental spending, and labour market flexibility.

Lithuania’s overall score in the index is now 75.2, its highest ever and well above the European average of 66.9. The Baltic country has improved its score annually for five consecutive years, reflecting its sustained focus on reform and development year on year, and now boasts comparable levels of openness and freedom to the US (75.4) and Denmark (75.3).

Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand once again made up the global top three. Lithuania’s ranking of 13^th places it ahead of the likes of the Netherlands, Germany, Japan and Sweden. It also compares very favourably to competitors in the CEE region such as the Czech Republic (21^st), Latvia (36^th) and Poland (39^th).