This month, the Cato Institute and the Fraser Institute released the latest edition of the Human Freedom Index, which contains 2021 data for 165 jurisdictions, covering 98.8% of the world’s population. Unlike the Fraser Institute’s Index of Economic Freedom, this index is by far the most comprehensive measure of freedom in all its dimensions, not just economic freedom.

Based on 86 indicators of economic and personal freedoms, the index provides a snapshot of the state of freedoms in the following areas: (1) rule of law, (2) security, (3) freedom of movement, (4) religion, (5) association, (6) expression and access to information, (7) intimate and family relationships, (8) trade, (9) state size, (10) legal system and property rights, and (11) regulations.

Declining words

The last two editions of the index allow us to see the dramatic deterioration of human freedoms that resulted from the coronavirus pandemic. The authors report that, on a scale of 0 to 10, where 10 represents more freedom, the average human freedom score for 165 jurisdictions decreased slightly, from 6.79 in 2020 to 6.75 in 2021. Between 2019 and 2021, 89 .8% of the world’s population experienced a decline in their freedom, with many more jurisdictions reporting a decline in scores (146) than those showing improvement (16). The regions that experienced the biggest drop in scores during the first two years of the pandemic were North America, East Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Interestingly, the decline in freedom has been happening since 2007, when the world reached the highest point of average freedom since 2000. Jurisdictions that experienced the biggest decline since that year are Nicaragua, Syrian Arab Republic, Hong Kong. Congo, Egypt, Turkey, Hungary, Bahrain, Venezuela, Burundi and El Salvador.

Belief and evidence

The data shows that high levels of freedom are concentrated in a small part of the world’s population: “Only 13.8% of the world’s population lives in the top quartile of index countries, while 37.6% of the world’s population lives in the bottom quartile of countries with the lowest degree of freedom. China takes a lot of credit for this freedom gap, as, with its huge population, it ranks in the lowest quartile of the index.

Within the region, another country that has experienced a significant decline since 2000 is Argentina. One of the authors, Ian Vásquez, notes: “During the last twenty years of the populist-Peronist government, Argentina’s level of freedom has continued to decline, its ranking jumping from 41st in 2000 to 77th in the current report. But in terms of economic freedom, the country experienced a complete collapse, falling from 40th place in 2000 to 158th place in the new index.”

Ecuador, on the other hand, is in 72nd place – the same position it occupied in 2000 – improving its human freedom score by only 0.6 since 2000 (from 6.97 to 7.03). In the first two years of the pandemic, the country experienced a drop of 0.29 (from 7.38 to 7.03). It should be noted that during Correismo 2014, Ecuador reached 97th place with a score of 6.76. (OR)