For Immediate Release
Contacts: Jim Weidman, (202) 675-1761, jim.weidman@heritage.org
Rachel Manfredo, (212) 416-3834, rachel.manfredo@dowjones.com
ECONOMIC FREEDOM DECLINES IN CENTRAL,
SOUTH AMERICA, 2015 INDEX SHOWS
Venezuela slides most in region; Chile remains 7th in world ranking
WASHINGTON, JAN. 27, 2015—The South and Central America/Caribbean
region became less economically free last year, reversing some of its latest gains and making it
one of two regions to decline in the 2015 Index of Economic Freedom, published by The Wall
Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation.
The region remains one of the world’s most diverse, economically as well as politically.
This year, 13 of its 29 countries recorded better scores in the Index, while 15 countries charted
declines (and one, Suriname, stayed the same).
Launched in 1995, the Index evaluates countries in four broad policy areas that affect
economic freedom: rule of law; limited government; regulatory efficiency; and open markets.
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.
No economy in South and Central America/Caribbean ranks as “free”, but three “mostly
free” economies lead the region: Chile, Saint Lucia, and Colombia, which recorded its highest
score in the life of the Index. Fourteen economies fall into the “moderately free” category.
Trinidad and Tobago raised its score by 1.4 points, and Haiti -- despite its continuing status as
a “repressed” economy -- emerged as the region’s most improved, with a rating hike of 2.4
points.
Yet “the stark reality across the region is that economies are underperforming and
stagnating due to a loss of economic freedom,” the editors write. “The foundations of wellfunctioning free-market democracy remain fragile in the South and Central America/Caribbean
region.” Widespread corruption and the weak protection of property rights are among the
problems holding the region back..
Argentina and Venezuela continued to drop in the rankings, edging closer to the
region’s least free economy, Cuba (which did, however, add almost a full point to its Index
score). Ecuador’s 1.2-point rise puts it less than a point away from escaping the “repressed”
category. Guatemala’s 0.8-point slide nearly caused it to join the ranks of the “mostly unfree,”
while The Bahamas recorded a 1.1-point loss last year, falling further into the economic
freedom category of “moderately free.”
The world average score of 60.4 is only one-tenth of a point above the 2014 average, but
represents a 2.8-point overall improvement since the inception of the Index in 1995. Thirty-seven
countries, including Taiwan, Israel, Poland and Colombia, achieved their highest-ever Index
scores. Among the 178 countries ranked, scores improved for 101 countries and declined for 73.
The 2015 Index was edited by Ambassador Terry Miller, director of Heritage’s Center for
Trade and Economics and Center for Data Analysis; and Anthony B. Kim, senior policy analyst
in the Center for Trade and Economics. Copies of the Index (492 pages, $24.95) may be ordered
online at www.heritage.org/index or by calling 1-800-975-8625. The full text, including charts
and graphs, also is available online.
About The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is a global news organization that provides leading news, information, commentary and
analysis. Published by Dow Jones which has nearly 2,000 journalists in more than 75 bureaus globally, The Wall
Street Journal engages readers across print, digital, mobile, social, and video. Building on its heritage as the
preeminent source of global business and financial news, the Journal includes coverage of U.S. & world news,
politics, arts, culture, lifestyle, sports, and health. It holds 35 Pulitzer Prizes for outstanding journalism.
About The Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation is the nation’s most broadly supported public policy research institute, with hundreds of
thousands of individual, foundation and corporate donors. Founded in 1973, Heritage develops public policy
solutions that advance free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional values and a strong
national defense.
2