Armenia ranked 38th in 2013 Index of Economic Freedom

Armenia was ranked the 38th in the 2013 Index of Economic Freedom. "The global advance toward economic freedom has ground to a halt," according to the editors of the 19th annual Index of Economic Freedom, released by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal, the Heritage.org reports.

Armenia's score in the index of economic freedom is 69.4 (up 0.6 points). Ranking the 38th Armenia is among "moderately free" countries.  Georgia has the best index in the Caucasus - 21st.  It is among the "mostly free" countries. Azerbaijan's score is 59.7 (up 0,8 points), but it is still among "mostly unfree" countries.  Russia is in the same category with 51.1 (up 0.6points) - 139th.  Turkey is the 69th with 62.9 points (up 0.4 points) and is among "moderately free"
countries like Armenia.  As for Iran, its score is 43.2 (up 0.9 points). The country is the 168th and among the "repressed" countries alongside with Zimbabwe, Cuba and North Korea.

Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand finished 1-2-3-4 respectively worldwide. Switzerland - the fifth, Canada finished sixth, despite slipping a half point, while Chile took seventh place and moved more than half a point toward greater economic freedom. Mauritius, the only Sub-Saharan country to rank among the top 10, was eighth with an overall score of 76.9. Denmark finished ninth, just ahead of the United States, which remains in tenth. North Korea is
ranked last in the world and Burma, the Solomon Islands, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Timor-Leste all rank 160th or worse.

Launched in 1995, the Index evaluates countries in four broad areas of economic freedom: rule of law; regulatory efficiency; limited government; and open markets. Based on its aggregate score, each of 177 countries graded in the 2013 Index was classified as "free" (i.e. combined scores of 80 or higher); "mostly free" (70-79.9); "moderately free" (60-69.9); "mostly unfree" (50-59.9); or "repressed" (under 50). There are 10 specific categories: property rights, freedom from corruption, fiscal freedom, government spending, business freedom, labor freedom, monetary freedom, trade freedom, investment freedom, and financial freedom. Scores in these categories are averaged to create an overall score. The world's most-improved country is Georgia, which saw its score rise 2.8 points, giving it an overall score of 72.2 and a place among the world's "mostly free" economies. The Asia-Pacific region dominates both the top and the bottom of the rankings.

Europe, the second-freest region and the world's most improved, narrowed the gap with North America in the 2013 Index. The scores of 32 countries improved, while just nine lost economic freedom. Switzerland continues to be the only "free" economy in the region, which has only two "repressed" economies that score below 50: Ukraine and Belarus.

Five European countries had notable changes in status: Georgia, Norway and the Czech Republic became "mostly free" economies. Cyprus dropped 2.8 points into the "moderately free" category, while Italy regained that status. Estonia and Poland also were among the world's 10 most improved.  The world average score of 59.6 was only one-tenth of a point above the 2012 average. Since reaching a global peak in 2008, the editors note, economic freedom has continued to stagnate. The overall trend for last year, however, was positive: Among the 177 countries ranked in the 2013 Index, scores improved for 91 countries
and declined for 78. On the plus side, average government spending scores improved.  Unfortunately, this was matched by a decline in regulatory efficiency, as a number of countries hiked minimum wages and tightened control of labor markets.