Sri Lanka ranks 83 out of 162 countries and territories included in the Economic Freedom of the World: 2020 Annual Report, released by Canada’s Fraser Institute in association with the Advocata Institute Sri Lanka.
Hong Kong and Singapore top the index, continuing their streak as first and second. New Zealand, Switzerland, the United States, Australia, Mauritius, Georgia, Canada, and Ireland round out the top 10. Research shows that people living in countries with high levels of economic freedom enjoy greater prosperity, more political and civil liberties, and longer lives. Countries in the top quartile of economic freedom had an average per-capita GDP of $44,198 in 2018 compared to $5,754 for countries in the bottom quartile.
In the top quartile, the average income of the poorest 10 per cent was $12,293 compared to $1,558 in the bottom quartile. The average income of the poorest 10 per cent in the most economically free countries is more than twice the average per-capita income in the least free countries.