Is America the land of the free? This international index says no

The Human Freedom Index is a rating of countries and territories conducted by the American libertarian think tank The Cato Institute, funded in 1977. It works worldwide and has had 12 Economic Nobel Laureates among its collaborators.

The Cato Institute advocates for personal freedom, smaller governments, economic freedom, and peace. The index measures "freedom from interference in people's right to choose to do, say, or think anything they want, provided that it does not infringe on the rights of others to do likewise."

It grades aspects it considers essential for freedom into two categories: personal and economic. To avoid bias, the Institute contrasts measurements made by other institutions in each category.

On the individual side, the index gathers information on the freedom of movement, religion, association, expression, and relationships. It also grades each country or territory's rule of law and security.

From the economic aspect, it analyzes the size of the government, the protection of property rights, freedom to trade internationally, economic welfare, and regulations.

In the 2022 ranking, the US fell to the 23rd position, far from the top ten free countries. With a score of 8.23, it is under many European countries, along with Canada and Australia.

According to Cato, the US performs worst in the rule of law, size of government, and freedom of movement categories. Aside from the pandemic restrictions on mobility, the country's lower grades on the economic side are on the movement of capital and people. On the personal side, in the criminal justice system.

The Institute warned that most countries' overall points fell drastically during the pandemic. Restrictions of mobility are to blame. However, it does not account for all of America's poor performance.

Many countries that restricted movement obtained better positions in the 2022 ranking. Furthermore, before the pandemic, in 2019, the US was in 16th place in the ranking. Still far from the top 10.

America has consistently fallen in the ranking since 2000 (back then, it was biannual), except for 2008 and 2014. It fell from 6 to 10 between 2000 and 2006, then from 8 to 11 between 2008 and 2012, and finally from 9 to 16 between 2014 and 2019 (when it became annual).

Other countries that lost their position during the pandemic still performed better than the US. Canada fell from 7 to 13. Norway and Australia shared the 11th place in 2022, and despite COVID restrictions, managed to scale and maintain their position respectively.

Nine top countries are in Europe, and seven are part of the European Union. All the top ten countries performed better on the personal side: all have a 10 in freedom of relationships. The lowest note was government size on all of them. We will exclude both factors.

Luxemburg is in 10th place. Security and safety were the top aspects of the European country, with a 9.9 score. It performed poorly in freedom of movement and market regulations, with a 7.7. Its overall score was 8.53.

The Netherlands, 9, had a score of 8.5. Its highest grade was a 9.8 in security and safety, and its lowest was on market regulations, with 7.8.

Finland had the same issue: market regulations. It scored 7.8 in that category but performed great in freedom of expression (9.9). Its overall score was 8.62.

Iceland performed better on security, freedom of religion, and association, with a 9.8 three-way tie. Its worst was the market regulations category at 7.1. It had an overall score of 8.64.

Sweden, the number 6, had an 8.66 score. Its best feature was freedom of religion with 9.9, and its worst was the market regulations with 7.7.

Ireland had a score of 8.70 and landed in 5th place. The legal system and property rights category had the lowest score: 6.2. Its highest grade was on freedom of expression, with a 9.9.

Denmark's (8.72) top three categories, with a 9.7 score each, were sound money, security and safety, and freedom of association. Its worst category was freedom of movement, with a 7.8.

Estonia did better in freedom of expression, as well: 9.8. Its worts grades were an 8.2 tie in freedom of movement and market regulations. It scored 8.73.

New Zealand ranked 2 with an 8.75. It is the only non-European country in the top ten. Its best performance was on freedom of religion with 9.9, and its worst was on the rule of law with 7.7.

Switzerland is at the top of the ranking, with an overall score of 8.94. The top aspects of the European country (not part of the EU) are sound money and expression (9.9). The worst was the freedom to trade internationally (7.6).