Philippines ranks 73rd out of 162 countries in freedom index

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines placed 73rd among the 162 countries ranked in the 2018 Human Freedom Index, which measures personal, civil and economic freedom worldwide.

The country dropped two places in the new report published by the Cato Institute, the Fraser Institute and the German Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom.

The HFI uses a 10-point scoring system, in which 10 represents “more freedom.”

Based on 2016 data, the Philippines obtained a human freedom rating of 6.92, slightly above the average of 6.89.

The human freedom score is the average of two scores—personal freedom and economic freedom—compiled from 79 indicators in the areas such as rule of law, security and safety, religious freedom and legal system.

The Philippines scored 6.50 in the personal freedom category and ranked in the 100th place. The country, meanwhile, garnered a rating of 7.34 in the economic freedom category and ranked in the 49th place.

In South Asia, the Philippines ranked third as the freest country in the region. It is behind Singapore (8.16) and Cambodia (6.92).

Worldwide, the HFI showed that New Zealand is the freest with a human freedom rating of 8.89. It was followed by Switzerland (8.79), Hong Kong (8.78), Australia (8.58) and Canada (8.57).

The countries at the bottom of the index were Syria (3.77), Venezuela (4.20), Republic of Yemen (4.25), Iraq (4.26) and Libya (4.31).