SATV, Kathmandu, October 7 -  Nepal has slipped one place in the global economic freedom rankings.

According to the Economic Freedom of the World: 2026 Annual Report, released Wednesday by Samriddhi Foundation in collaboration with Canada-based Fraser Institute, Nepal ranks 90th out of 165 countries. Nepal ranked 89th last year. This is the 19th consecutive year that Samriddhi Foundation has published the annual report in Nepal.

According to research published in various prestigious peer-reviewed academic journals, people living in countries with higher levels of economic freedom enjoy greater prosperity, greater political and civil liberties, and longer life expectancy. For example, countries in the top 25 percent of economic freedom, including the United Kingdom, Japan and Ireland, had an average per capita income of US$65,596 in 2024.

In comparison, countries in the bottom 20 percent, including Venezuela, Iran and Sudan, had an average per capita income of US$9,552. Similarly, the average life expectancy in countries in the top 25 percent of economic freedom was 80.7 years, compared with 67.1 years in countries in the bottom 25 percent.

According to Fred McMahon, Research Chair in Economic Freedom at the Fraser Institute, people are more prosperous, happy and healthy in places where they are free to pursue opportunities and make their own decisions.

Nepal’s Performance

In this year’s index, measured on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 representing the highest level of economic freedom, Nepal scored 6.59 and ranked 90th among 165 countries. Nepal slipped one place in the global ranking. In the 2025 ranking, Nepal scored 6.58 and ranked 89th out of 165 countries.

Despite the slight decline in ranking, the underlying data show that Nepal’s economic freedom score has fully recovered from the decline recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nepal scored 6.52 and ranked 98th in 2019. Its score declined to 6.31 in 2020, when it ranked 100th.

Nepal’s Scores and Rankings in Major Economic Freedom Indicators

Size of Government: Nepal fell from 49th place with a score of 7.29 in the previous report to 51st place with a score of 7.25.

Legal System and Property Rights: Nepal declined from 91st place with a score of 4.92 to 96th place with a score of 4.82.

Sound Money: Although Nepal’s score increased, its ranking declined from 96th place with a score of 7.37 to 101st place with a score of 7.57.

Freedom to Trade Internationally: Nepal improved from 126th place with a score of 6.21 to 117th place with a score of 6.39.

Regulation: Nepal dropped from 37th place with a score of 7.12 to 50th place with a score of 6.90.

Among the 24 sub-components under these five major areas assessed in the report, Nepal improved its ranking in seven, declined in six and maintained the same ranking in 11.

International Performance

According to the report, Hong Kong ranks first among the economies with the highest level of economic freedom worldwide. It is followed by Switzerland, Singapore, New Zealand, the United States, Ireland, Denmark, Australia and Mauritius. Finland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom share the final positions in the top 10.

The 10 lowest-ranked countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Malawi, Algeria, Iran, Myanmar, Libya, Sudan, Zimbabwe and, at the bottom, Venezuela.

Among other major economies, Germany ranks 19th, Japan 13th, France 39th, Russia 143rd, India 88th and China 110th.

What Is This Report?

The Economic Freedom of the World report is published annually by the Fraser Institute in collaboration with the Economic Freedom Network. It measures the extent to which a country’s policies and institutions support economic freedom.

The 2026 edition evaluates 165 countries across five major areas: size of government; legal system and property rights; sound money; freedom to trade internationally; and regulation.

Samriddhi Foundation is a member of the Economic Freedom Network and the co-publisher of the report in Nepal.