Uruguay fell four steps in the latest global ranking of economic freedom and ranked 68th out of a total of 165 countries.
The Fraser Institute Economic Freedom Report 2022 —co-published by the Center for Development Studies (CED)— presents evidence regarding the economic and social benefits that economic freedom represents for countries. This publication includes data from the year 2020. The higher the score in this index, the higher the income per inhabitant, the lower percentages of poverty and indigence, the more respect for the environment, the higher education, the longer life expectancy, among others, according to the summary executive.
Uruguay obtained a score of 7.06 in the 2022 Index of Economic Freedom, its performance worsened compared to the previous year (7.36 points), and it lost four places in the international ranking. “Despite the drop experienced, we must highlight that Uruguay presents a very stable behavior with a score that oscillates between 7 and 7.5 in the last 20 years,” the report states. With this value, it ranks 68th among 165 countries in the world ranking, led by Hong Kong (1), Singapore (2) and Switzerland (3). Venezuela is at the bottom of the table (165), while Argentina is very close (161).
ILE
“The decline in the table is due both to the effect of the pandemic and to a stagnation in Uruguay’s score and at the same time that others advanced remarkably. Peru and Paraguay are examples of a positive evolution in recent years,” he says. The report.
Globally, Uruguay is in the second quartile of economic freedom. In the region, Chile (7.56) and Peru (7.5) were surpassed, respectively ranking 33rd and 37th worldwide. Compared to the previous year, Uruguay worsened in all categories except for “Legal System and Property Rights”, which has had a very marginal improvement. However, despite the drop in the other items, the latter continues to be the category in which the country obtains the worst score.
On the other hand, Uruguay obtains good results in the areas of “Monetary stability” and “Freedom for international trade”. The items in which the country obtained the highest score in these categories are, among others, the following: money growth, standard deviation of inflation, freedom to open accounts in foreign currency, (foreign trade) tariffs, (lack of) black market of foreign currency and financial opening.
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The Fraser Institute’s Index of Economic Freedom 2022 (ILE 2022) measures the degree to which a country’s policies and institutions support economic freedom. It is very important to note that although it is published this year, the results are those of the year 2020. The cornerstones of economic freedom are individual freedom, voluntary exchange, the freedom to enter and leave markets and compete, and personal security and private property. This index is a multidimensional indicator that is made up of 42 indicators that are grouped into 5 large areas: Government Size, Legal System and Property Rights, Monetary Stability, International Trade Freedom and Regulation.
