Iraq excluded from Economic Freedom Index due to “inadequate” transparency
Shafaq News/ On Monday, Iraq was excluded for the secondconsecutive year from the 2025 Index of Economic Freedom, published by theUS-based conservative think tank Heritage Foundation.
According to the annual report—which evaluated economicconditions in 184 countries from July 2023 to June 2024—Iraq was one of eightcountries not ranked globally because of “inadequate transparency andincomplete economic data,” alongside Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen,Liechtenstein, and Ukraine.
Economist Mohammed Al-Hassani attributed Iraq's exclusionmainly to a “lack of government transparency and incomplete data in criticalareas, notably fiscal health, labor freedom, government spending, monetaryfreedom, and property rights.”
Globally, Singapore ranked first on the 2025 EconomicFreedom Index with 84.1 points, followed by Switzerland (83.7), Ireland (83.1),Taiwan (79.7), and New Zealand (78.9).
In the Arab world, the UAE led with 71.6 points, followed byQatar (70.2), Bahrain (65.6), Oman (65.4), and Saudi Arabia (64.4).
The annual index assesses economic openness ofcountries based on twelve indicators grouped under four categories: rule oflaw, government size, regulatory efficiency, and market openness. Scores rangefrom zero to 100, categorizing economies from "free" to"economically repressed."
