Hong Kong remains world’s freest economy as Switzerland overtakes SingaporeHong Kong has retained its status as the world’s freest economy in the latest annual ranking by a top Canadian think tank, although its score has declined in recent years.Switzerland overtook Singapore to claim second place in 2026, pushing the city state down to third in the league table released by the Fraser Institute on Tuesday.The Economic Freedom of the World report, compiled by the Vancouver-based public policy research organisation using data from 2024, ranked Hong Kong first among 165 jurisdictions.“Despite a precipitous decline in economic freedom since 2018, Hong Kong remained the world’s most economically free jurisdiction in 2024, the latest year for which we have data,” the think tank said.According to the latest data, Hong Kong scored 8.53, down 0.02 from the previous year. It was the only jurisdiction in the top 15 to record a decline in its score. Switzerland scored 8.45, up from 8.38 the previous year.Singapore, which scored 8.43, was followed by New Zealand with 8.38 and the United States with 8.21.Among other major economies, Britain ranked 13th, Japan 17th, India 86th and mainland China 108th. Ireland recorded the highest increase in its score among the top 10, rising by 0.11 points, although it remained in sixth place.The report assessed regulation, openness to international trade, the size of government, the legal system, property rights and the stability of the currency.It also measured people’s freedom to make economic decisions in their countries or cities.“Global economic freedom fell during the pandemic as policymakers imposed new regulations, raised barriers to trade, increased government spending and taxes, and then printed money to pay for spending,” Matthew Mitchell, senior fellow at the Fraser Institute and a co-author of the report, said.The think tank said that although governments had started to reverse these policies, economic freedom in the average country had not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.The 10 lowest-ranked countries were Congo, Egypt, Malawi, Algeria, Iran, Myanmar, Libya, Sudan, Zimbabwe and Venezuela.A government spokesman said the report once again affirmed Hong Kong’s strengths as a free-market economy and its open, efficient and fair business environment.“Amid increasing global economic uncertainties and rising trade protectionism, Hong Kong remains firmly committed to maintaining its free port status, zero-tariff policy, and simple and low tax regime, providing a secure, stable, fair, predictable and internationalised business and investment environment for investors and entrepreneurs from around the world,” he said.Gary Ng, senior economist for the Asia-Pacific region at Natixis, said Hong Kong had an edge over other jurisdictions, thanks to its free flow of capital and talent, and low-tax regime.But Ng said the city’s performance in certain categories, such as the size of government, might have led to the drop in its overall score.He noted that the city had seen more government-led investment, such as increased bond issuance, adding that other countries had been doing the same thing.In the report, government size is measured in terms of consumption, subsidies, investment, top marginal tax rates and ownership of assets.Ng also noted that the city’s standing in the sound-money category could have been affected by the US rate rises, given Hong Kong’s currency peg to the US dollar.Sound money is measured in terms of money growth, the standard deviation of inflation, inflation in the most recent year and foreign currency bank accounts.Ng said the city’s score for the legal system category was based on surveys and respondents’ perceptions could have played a role.“In the future, Hong Kong should continue to focus on maintaining its edges,” Ng said.Retired economist Thomas Yuen Wai-kee noted that national security laws and political events might have affected the overseas perceptions of the city’s legal system.“The government has been explaining and reflecting Hong Kong’s situation to the outside world … It takes time for them to understand, as long as they find that Hong Kong has not changed and is business-friendly,” he said.https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3369922/hong-kong-remains-worlds-freest-economy-switzerland-overtakes-singapore (ICE HONG KONG)

Fonte notizia: South China Morning Post