TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan emerged as the freest country in Asia in the 2022 Human Freedom Index (HFI), an index compiled by two think tanks, U.S.-based Cato Institute and Canada’s Fraser Institute.
Now in its eighth year, the index looked at 165 countries and jurisdictions in the world with data from 2020, the latest available. It put Taiwan in 14th place, the highest in Asia, followed by Japan at 16th. South Korea, Hong Kong, and China were ranked 30th, 34th, and 152nd, respectively.
The top 10 spots were Switzerland, New Zealand, Estonia, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
The rankings assess the state of human freedom based on a host of measures encompassing personal, civil, and economic freedom. A total of 83 indicators were gauged for the 2022 index, including rule of law; security and safety; movement; religion; association, assembly, and civil society; expression and information; relationships; the size of government; legal system and property rights; sound money; freedom to trade internationally; and regulation.
The report found that COVID-19 dealt a blow to overall human freedom. Meanwhile, it indicated that only 13.4% of the global population was living in the top quartile of the HFI countries.
The regions with the lowest levels of freedom were South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and North Africa. The highest levels were in Western Europe, North America (Canada and the United States), and Oceania.