Economic freedom is based on the cornerstones of personal choice, voluntary exchange, freedom to compete, and security of private property. Research shows that individuals living in countries with high levels of economic freedom enjoy higher levels of prosperity, greater individual freedoms, and longer life spans.

The Economic Freedom of the Arab World: 2008 Annual Report compares and ranks Arab nations in five economic freedom areas: size of government; commercial and economic law and security of property rights; access to sound money; freedom to trade internationally, and the regulation of credit, labour, and business.

The report measures at least some areas of economic freedom in 22 nations: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, West Bank and Gaza, and Yemen.

The report, which has been published since 2005 in partnership with the International Research Foundation (IRF) of Oman, is an outgrowth of the Fraser Institute's annual Economic Freedom of the World report, which ranks the economic freedom levels of 141 nations around the globe.