Economic Freedom of the World: 2018 Annual Report is the world’s premier measurement of economic freedom, ranking countries based on five areas: size of government, legal structure and security of property rights, access to sound money, freedom to trade internationally, and regulation of credit, labour and business. This year’s report compares 162 countries and territories. In this year’s ranking, which is based on 2016 data, Hong Kong is again number one, and Canada (tied for 10th with Australia) trails the United States, which ranks 6th.