Taiwan was rated 12th out of 165 countries and territories assessed in the latest Human Freedom Index report jointly released Dec. 19 by Washington-based Cato Institute and Vancouver-based Fraser Institute.

Using 86 distinct indicators in two major categories: Personal Freedom and Economic Freedom, the HFI presents the state of human freedom in the world. On a scale of 0 to 10, where 10 represents the most freedom, Taiwan scored 8.56, which is well above the global average of 6.75 and puts the country first in Asia.

The world’s top five spots went to Switzerland, New Zealand, Denmark, Ireland and Estonia, in that order. Taiwan’s Asian neighbors Japan ranked 16th, South Korea 28th and Singapore 42nd.

According to the report, human freedom deteriorated severely in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, with nearly 90 percent of the global population experiencing significant declines in areas such as the rule of law; freedom of movement, expression, association and assembly; and freedom to trade.

In economic freedom, Taiwan received an overall score of 7.97. It scored 9.6 in ‘sound money,’ that is, wealth not prone to sudden appreciation or depreciation in purchasing power over the long term; and between 7.3 and 7.7 in the four subcategories of government size, legal system and property rights, freedom to trade internationally and regulation.

In the personal freedom category, Taiwan performed even better with an overall score of 8.98. The country received a score of 9.9 in the subcategories of religion; 9.6 in security and safety; and between 8 and 9.4 in freedom of association, assembly and civil society, expression and information, movement, relationships and rule of law. (SFC-E)