Human Freedom Index 2020

Human Freedom Index

Question: consider the following statements:
i) India is ranked at 110 out of 162 countries.
ii) The index is published by American think tank Cato Institute and Fraser Institute of Canada.
iii) It measures human freedom which encompasses personal, civil and economic freedom.
Which of the above are correct?
a) i
b) i and ii
c) ii and iii
d) none
Answer: c)
Context

  • American think tank Cato Institute and Fraser Institute in Canada has released Human Freedom Index (HFI) 2020 recently.

About Human Freedom Index (HFI)

  • The Human Freedom Index presents the state of human freedom in the world based on a broad measure that encompasses personal, civil, and economic freedom.
  • Human Freedom is a social concept which is associated with the absence of coercive constraints.

HFI 2020

  • It is 6th annual index which takes into account 76 indicators of personal, civil, and economic freedoms to rank 162 countries from 2008 to 2018.
  • Index has noted a decrease in personal freedoms since 2008 globally.

Rankings

  • New Zealand was ranked one in the index, followed by Switzerland and Hong Kong. However “Given the Chinese Communist Party’s unprecedented intervention in Hong Kong in 2019 and 2020, the authors expect the territory’s freedom score to decline notably in future editions of the index”.
  • The three least-free countries in descending order are Venezuela, Sudan, and Syria.
  • Out of 10 regions, the highest levels of freedom are in North America (Canada and the United States), Western Europe, and East Asia. The lowest levels are in the Middle East and North Africa, sub‐Saharan Africa, and South Asia.

India’s performance

  • India is ranked at 111 out of 169 countries.
  • India was at 94 place in 2019 edition of index.
  • In the neighbourhood China is at 129 rank, Bangladesh is at 139 and Pakistan is at 140.

HFI finds human freedom has direct relationship with the prosperity of the country. It also has strong relation with the healthiness of Democracy of the country.

By – Kameshwar Shukla

Link:
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-ranks-111-out-of-162-countries-on-personal-freedom-index/article33358167.ece
https://www.cato.org/human-freedom-index-new