Romania ranks 61st out of 178 countries in the world in the 2016 Index of Economic Freedom made by The Heritage Foundation in partnership with Wall Street Journal.

The country’s score has gone down by one point compared to last year’s index, to 65.6, placing it among the moderately free countries.

Romania ranks behind Hungary (on 58), Albania (59), and Bulgaria (60), but ahead of Portugal (64), France (75), and Italy (86). Poland is 39th in the ranking while the Czech Republic is 21st and ranks among the mostly free economies.

Hong Kong, Singapore, and New Zealand top the ranking, followed by Switzerland and Australia. These five countries are considered to be the only truly free economies, scoring over 80 points in the ranking.

The index measures economic freedom based on 10 quantitative and qualitative factors, grouped into four broad categories: rule of law, limited government, regulatory efficiency, and open markets.

editor@romania-insider.com