PHL ranked 73rd in 2018 Human Freedom Index

The Philippines dropped two places and was ranked 73rd in the 2018 Human Freedom Index (HFI), a joint project of Canada's Fraser Institute, Germany’s Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, and the Cato Institute in the US, which broadly measures and ranks human freedom in 162 countries using 79 distinct indicators.

The Index uses a 10-point scoring system with 10 representing the maximum amount of Human Freedom or the least amount of coercive constraint. In the latest Index, the Philippines was given a score of 6.92. The global average Human Freedom rating was 6.89.

The Philippines also scored 6.50 in terms of Personal Freedom and 7.34 in terms of Economic Freedom.

The country still at the top of the HFI was New Zealand, whose 8.89 Human Freedom score was .01 higher than its previous rating. New Zealand also had an 9.28 Personal Freedom score and an 8.49 Economic Freedom rating.

The other top-ten countries in the HFI were:
Switzerland (8.79);
Hong Kong (8.78);
Australia (8.58);
Canada (8.57);
the Netherlands and Denmark (both with an 8.55 Human Freedom score);
Ireland and the United Kingdom (both with an 8.50 score); and
Finland, Norway, and Taiwan (all three with an 8.47 score).

The United States and Sweden came in 17th in the HFI, both with an 8.39 score. Japan was 31st with an 8.10 score, while Indonesia was 85th (6.77), and Malaysia was 110th (6.41).

The latest HFI also paid particular attention to China, which the Index's authors said was languishing at 135th place with a Human Freedom score of 5.91, a Personal Freedom rating of 5.35, and an Economic Freedom score of 6.46.

According to the HFI, among the actions China had taken to suppress freedom was the "militarization of the South China Sea in an attempt to gain a choke-hold on the world's most important trade corridors," and use of Belt and Road infrastructure projects to "create debt traps that give China unprecedented power" in other nations. — DVM, GMA News