September 16 (SeeNews) - Romania and Albania are once again the most economically free jurisdictions among 11 countries in Southeast Europe (SEE), the Fraser Institute said in its 2021 annual report on economic freedom in the world.
The 2021 issue of the Economic Freedom report is based on data for 165 countries for 2019, the most recent year for which comprehensive data is available. The degree of economic freedom is measured in five broad areas - size of government, legal system and property rights, sound money, freedom to trade internationally and regulation.
Five SEE countries have improved their scores compared to last year's edition of the report, while six ranked lower, the Canada-based think-tank said in the report published earlier this week.
Even though they ranked higher among SEE countries, Romania and Albania performed worse than in the previous ranking. Romania dropped to the 26th spot from 23rd, while Albania descended to the 31st position from 26th.
Romania's high score was predominantly due to its good performance in terms of freedom to trade internationally. Albania's rating was positively influenced by the country's good performance in the sound money area of the indicator, the report showed.
Montenegro's rating climbed up the most among all SEE countries. The country advanced to the 42nd spot from 80th, mainly supported by its strong performance in the sound money area.
Bosnia and Herzegovina was the least economically active jurisdiction among the 11 SEE countries, according to the report. The country ranked 90th, down from 82nd spot in the previous ranking.
Hong Kong again ranks 1st followed by Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland, Georgia, and the US.
The ranking of SEE countries follows:
|
Ranking 2021 |
Ranking 2020 |
Albania |
31 |
26 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina |
90 |
82 |
Bulgaria |
36 |
32 |
Croatia |
62 |
61 |
Greece |
78 |
92 |
N. Macedonia |
79 |
71 |
Moldova |
66 |
78 |
Montenegro |
42 |
80 |
Romania |
26 |
23 |
Serbia |
72 |
74 |
Slovenia |
52 |
62 |
source: Fraser Institute