Canada has fallen nine places in the Fraser Institute’s latest global ranking of economic freedom, dropping from 9th in 2023 to 18th in 2024.
The Economic Freedom of the World 2026 report, released October 6, uses 2024 data, the latest year for which comparable information is available across all 165 countries included in the study.
The index assesses countries in five areas: size of government, legal system and property rights, sound money, freedom to trade internationally and regulation.
For Canada, three of those five areas contributed to the decline. The report says the largest deterioration was in freedom to trade internationally, while Canada also lost ground in regulation and size of government.
Government size remains a particular weak spot. Canada ranked 101st out of 165 countries in that category, which considers taxation and government spending as a share of the economy. The Fraser Institute says Canada has performed poorly on this measure for several decades.
There were areas where Canada did not deteriorate. Its score for legal system and property rights was virtually unchanged, while its sound money score improved as inflation eased in 2024.
“Canadians should be worried because when people are less economically free, their standards of living tend to suffer,” said Matthew Mitchell, senior fellow at the Fraser Institute and co-author of the report.
Canada now ranks behind several major economies, including the United States in 5th place, the United Kingdom in 10th and Japan in 13th. It remains just ahead of Germany, which ranked 19th. Hong Kong placed first overall, followed by Switzerland, Singapore and New Zealand.
The report also presents broader global comparisons, rather than Canada-specific results, showing how economic outcomes differ among countries with higher and lower economic-freedom scores.
Across the countries studied, per-person GDP averaged US$65,596 in the most economically free 25 per cent of countries, compared with US$9,552 in the least-free 25 per cent. Extreme poverty affected 2 per cent of the population in the top quartile versus 41 per cent in the bottom quartile, while average life expectancy was 81 years compared with 67 years.
Ten freest economies, 2024
1. Hong Kong SAR
2. Switzerland
3. Singapore
4. New Zealand
5. United States
6. Ireland
7. Denmark
8. Australia
9. Mauritius
10. United Kingdom
Ten least-free economies, 2024
156. Congo, Dem. Rep.
157. Egypt, Arab Rep.
158. Malawi
159. Algeria
160. Iran, Islamic Rep.
161. Myanmar
162. Libya
163. Sudan
164. Zimbabwe
165. Venezuela, RB
The 2026 ranking does not measure conditions in Canada today. The Fraser Institute says its figures lag by two years because comparable public data are not immediately available for every country.
Economic Freedom of the World: 2026 Annual Report