Hong Kong's Humiliation... Completely Removed from the Top Spot in the Economic Freedom Index After 25 Years

"Not an Independent Country" Excluded from Investigation Target Countries... South Korea Ranks 24th
1st is Singapore... China 107th, After Uganda

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] Hong Kong was excluded from this year's Economic Freedom Index published every March by the U.S. think tank Heritage Foundation. It was omitted due to increased control by the Chinese government over Hong Kong.

According to Bloomberg and the Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 4th, Hong Kong was not included among the 184 countries surveyed in the Heritage Foundation's 2021 Economic Freedom Index report.

Hong Kong, which had maintained the top spot for 25 consecutive years from 1995 to 2019, ranked second last year after being overtaken by Singapore, and this year it has completely disappeared from the index.

The foundation stated, "This year's Economic Freedom Index evaluates only the economic freedom of independent countries." It defined independent countries as "countries where the government holds control over economic policy."

The foundation explained, "Hong Kong and Macao previously enjoyed policies guaranteeing greater economic freedom than mainland China," but added, "Recent circumstances clearly show that the policies of these regions are also controlled by China."

China ranked 107th in this year's survey. It was classified as a "mostly unfree country," just after Uganda.

Singapore, which took first place again this year following last year, scored 89.7 out of 100 points. It was followed by New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, and Ireland.

South Korea, as in the previous year, scored 74.0 out of 100 points, ranking 24th and classified as a "mostly free country."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.