Ranked: Countries with the highest human freedom, 2025

Despina WilsonJanuary 16, 2025Special Reports

Freedom is an essential aspect of our identity as individuals and as nations. It significantly influences our progress, culture, and economy. Living in a country that values human freedom brings remarkable benefits. It enables us to embrace our unique lifestyles, pursue our entrepreneurial dreams, and express our thoughts openly, all underpinned by strong civil liberties. Therefore, it is important to take a moment to reflect on how freedom impacts our everyday lives.

In this spirit, the Index of Global Human Freedom, published by CEOWORLD magazine, provides a fascinating look at freedom in 197 countries and territories worldwide. Switzerland ranks as the freest country on our Index of Global Human Freedom for 2025.

This index is a wonderful resource that explores how free individuals feel across different places. It looks at six key aspects of freedom: personal, religious, political, civil, democratic, and economic rights. One of its main points is that real freedom means being free from unnecessary constraints.

The Index of Global Human Freedom covers various important topics, such as the rule of law, security and safety, freedom of movement, religion, association, and assembly. It also touches on civil society, freedom of expression, personal relationships, the size of governments, the legal system and property rights. Access to sound money, the ability to trade internationally, and the regulation of credit, labor, and business. It gives us a comprehensive understanding of how freedom looks around the world!

Freedom is the state of being allowed to do what you want, speak without hesitation, and think as freely as you can. It is a fundamental human right and is essential for any country to thrive and become a democratic nation. Freedom is inherently valuable and significantly contributes to human progress. It shapes the country’s culture, education and lifestyle.

Countries with the highest human freedom, 2025

Rank	Country	Region	Sub-region	Situation	Score	Travel Risk
1	Switzerland	Europe	West Europe	good situation	91.95	INSIGNIFICANT
2	New Zealand	Oceania	Oceania	good situation	91.58	LOW
3	Denmark	Europe	North Europe	good situation	91.4	INSIGNIFICANT
4	Luxembourg	Europe	West Europe	good situation	91.13	INSIGNIFICANT
5	Ireland	Europe	North Europe	good situation	90.95	LOW
6	Finland	Europe	North Europe	good situation	90.82	INSIGNIFICANT
7	Liechtenstein	Europe	West Europe	good situation	90.79	LOW
8	Australia	Oceania	Oceania	good situation	90.74	LOW
9	Monaco	Europe	West Europe	good situation	90.58	LOW
10	Iceland	Europe	North Europe	good situation	90.5	LOW
11	Sweden	Europe	North Europe	good situation	90.47	LOW
12	Estonia	Europe	North Europe	good situation	89.91	LOW
13	Japan	Asia	East Asia	good situation	89.52	LOW
14	Macao (China)	Asia	East Asia	good situation	89.4	LOW
15	Norway	Europe	North Europe	good situation	89.39	INSIGNIFICANT
16	Germany	Europe	West Europe	good situation	89.05	LOW
17	Czech Republic (Czechia)	Europe	East Europe	good situation	89.04	LOW
18	Netherlands	Europe	West Europe	good situation	87.75	LOW
19	United Kingdom	Europe	North Europe	good situation	87.39	LOW
20	United States	Americas	North America	good situation	87.01	LOW
21	Taiwan	Asia	East Asia	good situation	86.73	LOW
22	Portugal	Europe	South Europe	good situation	86.45	LOW
23	San Marino	Europe	South Europe	good situation	86.19	LOW
24	Latvia	Europe	North Europe	good situation	86.14	LOW
25	Austria	Europe	West Europe	good situation	86.07	LOW
26	Malta	Europe	South Europe	good situation	86.01	LOW
27	Andorra	Europe	South Europe	good situation	85.65	LOW
28	Belgium	Europe	West Europe	good situation	85.53	LOW
29	Lithuania	Europe	North Europe	good situation	85.43	LOW
30	Spain	Europe	South Europe	good situation	84.87	LOW
31	Italy	Europe	South Europe	good situation	84.68	LOW
32	Canada	Americas	North America	good situation	83.93	LOW
33	Slovenia	Europe	South Europe	good situation	83.68	INSIGNIFICANT
34	Cyprus	Europe	West Asia	good situation	83.37	LOW
35	Chile	Americas	South America	good situation	83.17	LOW
36	Costa Rica	Americas	Central America	good situation	83.02	LOW
37	South Korea	Asia	East Asia	good situation	82.8	LOW
38	France	Europe	West Europe	good situation	82.68	LOW
39	Slovakia	Europe	East Europe	satisfactory situation	82.41	LOW
40	Uruguay	Americas	South America	satisfactory situation	82.23	LOW
41	Romania	Europe	East Europe	satisfactory situation	81.61	LOW
42	Seychelles	Africa	East Africa	satisfactory situation	81.47	LOW
43	Croatia	Europe	South Europe	satisfactory situation	81.37	LOW
44	Panama	Americas	Central America	satisfactory situation	81.01	LOW
45	Albania	Europe	South Europe	satisfactory situation	80.97	LOW
46	Armenia	Asia	West Asia	satisfactory situation	80.24	HIGH
47	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Americas	Caribbean	satisfactory situation	79.9	LOW
48	Dominican Republic	Americas	Caribbean	satisfactory situation	79.51	MEDIUM
49	Grenada	Americas	Caribbean	satisfactory situation	79.42	LOW
50	Antigua and Barbuda	Americas	Caribbean	satisfactory situation	79.05	LOW
51	Cuba	Americas	Caribbean	satisfactory situation	79.02	LOW
52	Dominica	Americas	Caribbean	satisfactory situation	78.61	LOW
53	Saint Kitts and Nevis	Americas	Caribbean	satisfactory situation	78.54	LOW
54	Singapore	Asia	South-East Asia	satisfactory situation	77.4	LOW
55	Bahamas	Americas	Caribbean	satisfactory situation	77.19	LOW
56	Saint Lucia	Americas	Caribbean	satisfactory situation	76.97	LOW
57	Jamaica	Americas	Caribbean	satisfactory situation	76.72	MEDIUM
58	Bulgaria	Europe	East Europe	satisfactory situation	76.54	LOW
59	Montenegro	Europe	South Europe	satisfactory situation	76.52	LOW
60	Barbados	Americas	Caribbean	satisfactory situation	76.44	LOW
61	Hong Kong (China)	Asia	East Asia	satisfactory situation	76.15	LOW
62	Poland	Europe	East Europe	satisfactory situation	76.13	LOW
63	Georgia	Asia	West Asia	satisfactory situation	76.12	LOW
64	Mauritius	Africa	East Africa	satisfactory situation	76.08	LOW
65	Peru	Americas	South America	satisfactory situation	75.63	MEDIUM
66	Mongolia	Asia	East Asia	satisfactory situation	75.3	MEDIUM
67	North Macedonia	Europe	South Europe	satisfactory situation	74.7	LOW
68	Greece	Europe	South Europe	satisfactory situation	73.7	LOW
69	Trinidad and Tobago	Americas	Caribbean	satisfactory situation	73.62	MEDIUM
70	Israel	Asia	West Asia	satisfactory situation	73.57	MEDIUM
71	Belize	Americas	Central America	satisfactory situation	73.36	MEDIUM
72	Namibia	Africa	South Africa	satisfactory situation	73.16	LOW
73	Botswana	Africa	South Africa	satisfactory situation	73.11	LOW
74	Hungary	Europe	East Europe	satisfactory situation	72.95	LOW
75	Moldova	Europe	East Europe	satisfactory situation	72.15	LOW
76	East Timor [Timor Leste]	Asia	South-East Asia	satisfactory situation	71.07	MEDIUM
77	Suriname	Americas	South America	satisfactory situation	70.93	LOW
78	Paraguay	Americas	South America	satisfactory situation	70.5	LOW
79	Guatemala	Americas	Central America	satisfactory situation	70.34	MEDIUM
80	Fiji	Oceania	Melanesia	satisfactory situation	70.25	LOW
81	Kiribati	Oceania	Micronesia	satisfactory situation	70.22	LOW
82	Marshall Islands	Oceania	Micronesia	satisfactory situation	70.04	LOW
83	Brazil	Americas	South America	satisfactory situation	69.95	MEDIUM
84	Papua New Guinea	Oceania	Oceania	satisfactory situation	69.93	HIGH
85	Micronesia (Federated States of)	Oceania	Oceania	satisfactory situation	69.84	LOW
86	Nauru	Oceania	Oceania	satisfactory situation	69.63	LOW
87	Palau	Oceania	Oceania	satisfactory situation	69.13	LOW
88	Samoa	Oceania	Oceania	satisfactory situation	69.02	LOW
89	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Europe	South Europe	satisfactory situation	68.96	LOW
90	Solomon Islands	Oceania	Oceania	satisfactory situation	68.52	MEDIUM
91	Tonga	Oceania	Oceania	satisfactory situation	68.08	LOW
92	El Salvador	Americas	Central America	satisfactory situation	68	MEDIUM
93	Tuvalu	Oceania	Oceania	satisfactory situation	67.98	LOW
94	Vanuatu	Oceania	Oceania	satisfactory situation	67.19	LOW
95	South Africa	Africa	South Africa	satisfactory situation	66.85	MEDIUM
96	Serbia	Europe	South Europe	satisfactory situation	66.66	LOW
97	Ghana	Africa	West Africa	satisfactory situation	65.87	LOW
98	Ivory Coast [Côte d'Ivoire]	Africa	West Africa	satisfactory situation	65.78	MEDIUM
99	Malaysia	Asia	South-East Asia	satisfactory situation	65.72	LOW
100	Ecuador	Americas	South America	satisfactory situation	65.52	MEDIUM
101	Colombia	Americas	South America	satisfactory situation	65.42	MEDIUM
102	Argentina	Americas	South America	satisfactory situation	65.27	LOW
103	Benin	Africa	West Africa	satisfactory situation	64.91	LOW
104	Guyana	Americas	South America	satisfactory situation	64.9	MEDIUM
105	Honduras	Americas	Central America	satisfactory situation	64.4	HIGH
106	Bolivia (Plurinational State of)	Americas	South America	satisfactory situation	64.39	MEDIUM
107	Malawi	Africa	East Africa	satisfactory situation	64.1	LOW
108	India	Asia	South Asia	satisfactory situation	63.48	LOW
109	Indonesia	Asia	South-East Asia	satisfactory situation	63.14	MEDIUM
110	Senegal	Africa	West Africa	noticeable problems	63.08	LOW
111	Gambia	Africa	West Africa	noticeable problems	63.05	LOW
112	Cape Verde [Cabo Verde]	Africa	West Africa	noticeable problems	62.79	LOW
113	Bhutan	Asia	South Asia	noticeable problems	61.93	LOW
114	Lesotho	Africa	South Africa	noticeable problems	61.83	MEDIUM
115	Madagascar	Africa	East Africa	noticeable problems	61.39	MEDIUM
116	Thailand	Asia	South-East Asia	noticeable problems	61.04	LOW
117	Mexico	Americas	Central America	noticeable problems	60.97	MEDIUM
118	Zambia	Africa	East Africa	noticeable problems	60.79	LOW
119	Kenya	Africa	East Africa	noticeable problems	60.76	MEDIUM
120	Kyrgyzstan	Asia	Central Asia	noticeable problems	60.37	MEDIUM
121	Philippines	Asia	South-East Asia	noticeable problems	60.04	MEDIUM
122	Liberia	Africa	West Africa	noticeable problems	59.88	MEDIUM
123	Jordan	Asia	West Asia	noticeable problems	59.39	LOW
124	Guinea-Bissau	Africa	West Africa	noticeable problems	59.25	MEDIUM
125	Mozambique	Africa	East Africa	noticeable problems	58.27	MEDIUM
126	Kazakhstan	Asia	Central Asia	noticeable problems	57.64	MEDIUM
127	Tanzania	Africa	East Africa	noticeable problems	56.81	MEDIUM
128	Sierra Leone	Africa	West Africa	noticeable problems	56.74	MEDIUM
129	Gabon	Africa	Middle Africa	noticeable problems	56.19	LOW
130	Togo	Africa	West Africa	noticeable problems	56.01	MEDIUM
131	Burkina Faso	Africa	West Africa	noticeable problems	55.79	HIGH
132	Niger	Africa	West Africa	noticeable problems	55.77	MEDIUM
133	Haiti	Americas	Caribbean	noticeable problems	55.65	HIGH
134	Cambodia	Asia	South-East Asia	noticeable problems	55.6	MEDIUM
135	Kuwait	Asia	West Asia	noticeable problems	54.98	LOW
136	Tunisia	Africa	North Africa	noticeable problems	54.92	MEDIUM
137	Lebanon	Asia	West Asia	noticeable problems	54.67	EXTREME
138	Uganda	Africa	East Africa	noticeable problems	54.35	MEDIUM
139	United Arab Emirates	Asia	West Asia	noticeable problems	54.24	LOW
140	Brunei Darussalam	Asia	South-East Asia	noticeable problems	54.09	LOW
141	Rwanda	Africa	East Africa	noticeable problems	53.69	LOW
142	Ukraine	Europe	East Europe	noticeable problems	53.01	EXTREME
143	Mali	Africa	West Africa	noticeable problems	52.89	HIGH
144	Angola	Africa	Middle Africa	noticeable problems	52.81	MEDIUM
145	Oman	Asia	West Asia	noticeable problems	52.64	LOW
146	Nigeria	Africa	West Africa	noticeable problems	52.35	HIGH
147	Azerbaijan	Asia	West Asia	noticeable problems	51.75	HIGH
148	Bahrain	Asia	West Asia	noticeable problems	50.85	LOW
149	Djibouti	Africa	East Africa	noticeable problems	50.76	MEDIUM
150	Morocco	Africa	North Africa	noticeable problems	50.56	LOW
151	Comoros	Africa	East Africa	noticeable problems	50.54	LOW
152	Vietnam	Asia	South-East Asia	noticeable problems	50.2	LOW
153	Mauritania (Islamic Republic of)	Africa	West Africa	noticeable problems	49.83	MEDIUM
154	Sri Lanka	Asia	South Asia	difficult situation	49.82	MEDIUM
155	Qatar	Asia	West Asia	difficult situation	49.25	LOW
156	Republic of the Congo [Congo-Brazzaville]	Africa	Middle Africa	difficult situation	49.24	MEDIUM
157	São Tomé and Príncipe	Africa	Middle Africa	difficult situation	49.1	LOW
158	Tajikistan	Asia	Central Asia	difficult situation	49.02	MEDIUM
159	Turkmenistan	Asia	Central Asia	difficult situation	48.76	MEDIUM
160	Uzbekistan	Asia	Central Asia	difficult situation	48.48	LOW
161	Russia	Europe	East Europe	difficult situation	48.32	MEDIUM
162	Belarus	Europe	East Europe	difficult situation	48.14	EXTREME
163	Democratic Republic of the Congo [DR Congo]	Africa	Middle Africa	difficult situation	47.88	HIGH
164	Equatorial Guinea	Africa	Middle Africa	difficult situation	47.79	LOW
165	Bangladesh	Asia	South Asia	difficult situation	47.26	HIGH
166	Turkey (Türkiye)	Asia	West Asia	difficult situation	46.88	MEDIUM
167	Nepal	Asia	South Asia	difficult situation	46.67	MEDIUM
168	Nicaragua	Americas	Central America	difficult situation	46.53	MEDIUM
169	Cameroon	Africa	Middle Africa	difficult situation	46.49	MEDIUM
170	Central African Republic	Africa	Middle Africa	difficult situation	45.49	HIGH
171	Ethiopia	Africa	East Africa	difficult situation	45.3	HIGH
172	Eritrea	Africa	East Africa	difficult situation	45.21	MEDIUM
173	Guinea	Africa	West Africa	difficult situation	43.82	MEDIUM
174	Laos (Lao PDR)	Asia	South-East Asia	difficult situation	43.46	LOW
175	Eswatini [Swaziland]	Africa	South Africa	difficult situation	43.32	MEDIUM
176	China	Asia	East Asia	difficult situation	43.29	LOW
177	Libya	Africa	North Africa	difficult situation	42.9	EXTREME
178	Burundi	Africa	East Africa	difficult situation	42.49	MEDIUM
179	Zimbabwe	Africa	East Africa	very serious	41.25	MEDIUM
180	Chad	Africa	Middle Africa	very serious	40.28	MEDIUM
181	Saudi Arabia	Asia	West Asia	very serious	40.18	MEDIUM
182	Iraq	Asia	West Asia	very serious	39.83	EXTREME
183	Algeria	Africa	North Africa	very serious	39.67	MEDIUM
184	Somalia	Africa	East Africa	very serious	39.07	EXTREME
185	South Sudan	Africa	East Africa	very serious	38.9	EXTREME
186	Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)	Americas	South America	very serious	38.76	HIGH
187	Egypt	Africa	North Africa	very serious	38.64	MEDIUM
188	Sudan	Africa	North Africa	very serious	38.44	EXTREME
189	Pakistan (Islamic Republic of)	Asia	South Asia	very serious	38.31	EXTREME
190	Myanmar [Burma]	Asia	South-East Asia	very serious	38.24	EXTREME
191	Iran (Islamic Republic of)	Asia	South Asia	very serious	38.17	HIGH
192	Maldives	Asia	South Asia	very serious	37.73	MEDIUM
193	Yemen	Asia	West Asia	very serious	37.39	EXTREME
194	North Korea	Asia	East Asia	very serious	37.02	EXTREME
195	Afghanistan	Asia	South Asia	very serious	36.86	EXTREME
196	Palestine	Asia	West Asia	very serious	36.76	EXTREME
197	Syria	Asia	West Asia	very serious	36.16	EXTREME

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CEOWORLD magazine - Latest - Special Reports - Ranked: Countries with the highest human freedom, 2025

Despina Wilson

I am a senior editor and data journalist at CEOWORLD magazine. My job involves using infographics to report on news topics related to business and policy, with a global perspective. I hold a master's degree in journalism and have worked for newspapers and reporting projects in both the US and the UK, giving me a unique transatlantic perspective. I believe that data can enhance coverage of all news topics. As a contributor, I plan cover a wide range of issues, such as gender equality, climate change, labor, and immigration, using relevant statistics and insightful visualizations.

Email: despina@ceoworld.biz

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