Ukraine moves out of group of countries with less economic freedom for first time ever

Ukrainska Pravda
·2 min read
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For the first time, Ukraine has not been included in the group of countries with least economic freedom, ranking 112th among 165 jurisdictions.

Source: an updated report on Economic Freedom in the World by the Fraser Institute, as reported by the Bendukidze Center, the institute's national partner in Ukraine.

"Ukraine has moved out of the group of economically less free countries for the first time. Ukraine has been ranked 112th among 165 jurisdictions in the updated ranking and moved up to the third quartile," the Bendukidze Center said.

The researchers note that the greatest area of improvement is government functioning, namely with regard to transfers, subsidies, and state ownership of assets.

The legal system is also improving due to ongoing judicial reform.

There has also been a positive change, albeit a small one, in the area of regulation, particularly in the regulation of credit markets (interest rate control), business regulation (bureaucracy costs) and freedom of competition.

Meanwhile, inflation has slightly reduced the soundness of money and freedom to trade internationally.

Background: 

  • The report annually measures the level of support for economic freedom by countries' institutions and policies in five areas: government functioning, rule of law and protection of property rights, soundness of money, freedom of international trade, and labour and business regulation.

  • In this year's report, Hong Kong lost its top position for the first time due to the Chinese government's restrictions on the rule of law and the loss of confidence in the independence and impartiality of the judiciary.

  • Instead, Singapore's performance improved and allowed the country to take the top spot. Switzerland, New Zealand, the United States, Ireland, Denmark, Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada also received high scores.

  • The global average of economic freedom has declined, primarily due to the coronavirus pandemic. This is a more severe decline than the one seen during the 2008-2009 financial crisis.

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