Hong Kong is world’s freest economy yet again, but not for long, group behind rankings warns
- The city has been at the top of the annual rankings by the Canada-based Fraser Institute since its first economic freedom report in 1996
- However, the organisation’s latest report warns Beijing’s heavy hand will drag the city down in future rankings – an assertion local officials deny
Hong Kong has been crowned the world’s freest economy yet again by the Canada-based Fraser Institute, but the organisation’s latest report has also warned that Beijing’s heavy hand will drag the city down in future rankings – an assertion local officials were quick to deny.
The research body’s Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) report, published on Tuesday, relied on data collected in 2019. But the central government’s interventions more recently were likely to have a negative impact on Hong Kong’s score going forward, the authors found, especially with regards to the city’s legal system.
Hong Kong has taken the top spot in the rankings every year since the report was first launched in 1996, with the city earning a rating of 8.91 out of 10 in the latest edition to edge out regional rival Singapore, with 8.81. Coming in third was New Zealand, with a score of 8.56.
The United States clocked in at sixth this year, with Canada ranked 14th, Japan 18th and mainland China 116th. Bringing up the rear in 165th place was Venezuela, with a score of 2.83.
“Even so, we are perhaps just beginning to see the effect of policy changes in Hong Kong as the result of the 1997 establishment of Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region within China. In this year’s report, Hong Kong’s overall EFW rating fell by over one-tenth of a point to 8.91 in 2019 from 9.03 in 2018,” the report read.
In two of the five areas of assessment – “regulation of credit” and “labour and business” – Hong Kong was ranked No 1 this year. But in the “legal system and property rights” category, Hong Kong came in 20th.
