The UAE placed 46th among 165 jurisdictions assessed in the Fraser Institute's Economic Freedom of the World 2026 Annual Report, positioning it within the upper tier of economies measured for economic freedom across the Gulf and Arab regions. Drawing on 2024 figures, the index placed the UAE at 7.42 out of a possible 10.
According to indices measuring economic openness, the UAE ranks among the top two Arab and Gulf nations, though its precise standing varies by source and methodology. A composite score of 7.49 placed Bahrain at position 40 in the overall standings. At 50th overall with a score of 7.38, Jordan sits one place ahead of Saudi Arabia, which lands at 60th on a tally of 7.17, with the UAE occupying the same 50th position as Jordan.
In two of the index's five measured categories, the UAE outperformed every other Gulf nation. Among Gulf Cooperation Council members, the UAE posted a score of 7.08 in the legal systems and property rights category, placing it 30th worldwide — a position that put it ahead of Saudi Arabia at 47th and every other state in the bloc. On international trade freedom, the UAE posted a score of 8.62, placing 33rd worldwide and outpacing Qatar in that category.
On the regulation front, the UAE placed 29th worldwide with a score of 7.23, while its standing for sound money came in at 76th globally, backed by a score of 8.47.
Ranked at the top of global economic freedom indices with a score of 8.53, Hong Kong has held that position even as its rating has slipped from the level it held in 2018. Rounding out the top five, Switzerland posted a score of 8.45, Singapore 8.43, New Zealand 8.38, and the United States 8.21. Rounding out the top nine positions are Ireland, Denmark, Australia, and Mauritius, with Finland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom sharing the tenth spot between them. Of the nations measured, Venezuela occupies the bottom position in the rankings.
Global indices tracking economic freedom have not returned to the levels they held before the pandemic altered them. According to the report, trade barriers were erected, regulatory and spending frameworks broadened, and monetary expansion pursued by governments in the period following 2020. Scores across nearly all measured categories sat lower in 2024 than they had five years earlier, even as a partial recovery has since taken hold — with only the international trade freedom metric holding above its 2019 level throughout.
The unweighted global average for 2024 stood at 6.62, while the population-weighted figure came in at 6.42. Matthew Mitchell, a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute and co-author of the report, noted that economic freedom worldwide had contracted during the pandemic period as policymakers introduced additional regulations, erected new barriers to trade, expanded government expenditure and taxation, and turned to monetary expansion to fund that spending.
Among Japan, Canada, and Germany, Japan holds 13th place, Canada has dropped nine positions to land at 18th, and Germany sits at 19th. Among the nations listed, rankings stretch from France at 39th through Italy at 47th, South Korea at 53rd, Indonesia at 72nd, Mexico at 77th, and Brazil at 85th, continuing down through India at 88th, China at 110th, and Russia at 143rd. Among the four South Asian nations assessed, Nepal placed 90th, while Sri Lanka came in at 119th, Bangladesh at 129th, and Pakistan at 133rd.
Forecasts tied to 2025 data put the decline at 0.12 of an index point, a shift that the study's authors attribute to three converging factors: a growing footprint for government-run activity, weakening safeguards around private property, and tighter restrictions on international commerce.
Nations ranked in the top quarter by economic freedom recorded average per-capita incomes nearly seven times those reported across the bottom quarter of that same ranking. Data from countries where political and civil liberties score highest show that people at the lower end of the income distribution bring home 7.1 times what their counterparts in other nations earn, live roughly 14 years longer, and work about six fewer hours each week.
The index, its authors note, confines its scope to economic freedom as a standalone measure — setting aside living standards, personal liberties, and any benefits that taxation or regulation might reasonably be said to provide. At the foot of the ranking table sit ten nations — Congo, Egypt, Malawi, Algeria, Iran, Myanmar, Libya, Sudan, Zimbabwe, and Venezuela.
