The State of World Liberty Index was a combination of indices compiled originally in 2006. Since then, I've periodically updated the index. My methodology is similar to the original with the following exceptions: I use only the civil liberties portion of the Freedom House, economic liberty (Fraser/Heritage) is weighted evenly with social liberty, and the Reporters without Borders Press Freedom Scores are of equal weight to each of the Freedom House Civil Liberties sub-components. All changes are done with the purpose of creating the most accurate relative ranking of countries by the degree of liberty (economic and social) enjoyed by the average individual within the polity. Where data is available, territories or colonies (e.g. Hong Kong) are included.
2013 Freedom by Percentile. Colors represent countries grouped by 20 percentiles, in order of Blue (top 20%), Green (20-40%), Yellow (40-60%), Orange (60-80%), and Red (80-100%).
2013 Changes in Freedom. Blue is an increase in rank >10 and Green >5. Yellow is status quo (change between 5 and -5). Orange is a fall in rank of >5 and Red >10.
2013 Most Free Countries
- New Zealand
- Hong Kong
2013 Most Tyrannical States
- North Korea
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- Equatorial Guinea
2013 Greatest Increases in Liberty
- Solomon Islands
- East Timor
2013 Greatest Increases in Tyranny
- Burkina Faso
Colored maps modified from images at http://www.outline-world-map.com/.