World Index of Moral Freedom

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The World Index of Moral Freedom [1] is sponsored and published by the Foundation for the Advancement of Liberty, a libertarian think tank based in Madrid, Spain. The Index is an international index ranking one hundred and sixty countries on their performance on five categories of indicators:

The WIMF's first edition was published on 2 April 2016, co-authored by Foundation researchers Andreas Kohl and Juan Pina. A second edition was published by the same foundation in July 2018, this time authored by Juan Pina and Emma Watson.

Countries ranked in the World Index of Moral Freedom (2020 iteration). World Index of Moral Freedom 2020 ranking.png
Countries ranked in the World Index of Moral Freedom (2020 iteration).

Purpose

The World Index of Moral Freedom aims at completing the views presented by other international freedom indices measuring general freedom or aspects thereof (press freedom, economic freedom, etcetera). To do so, the Index aims at responding a simple question: how free from state-imposed moral constraints are human beings depending on their countries of residence? The research conducted tries to determine the degree of individual freedom to take decisions pertaining to the great moral debates of our time. The first edition of the WIMF includes a short note on the comparison between its country ranking and those of the other freedom indices.

Categories studied and classification of countries

Each category of indicators is worth twenty points (20% of the total score) and aims at responding the following questions:

Category A, religious indicators
How free is the practice of any religion or none, and how religious-controlled is the state.
Category B, bioethical indicators
How free is individual decision making on matters posing bioethical questions.
Category C, drugs indicators
How free is the production, trade and consumption of substances deemed harmful.
Category D, sexuality indicators
How free are sexual intercourse, pornography and sex services among consenting adults.
Category E, gender & family indicators
How free are women, LGBT individuals and unmarried couples living together.

Each category is made up of various indicators (normally one or two leading indicators adjusted by one or two lesser weighted ones), the weight of which is set in view of their inferred relevance towards the category's overall score. Countries have been classified towards each category according to the information available in the sources reviewed. All category results and the general index itself are presented in a 0–100 point scale. Countries are classified according to the following intervals:

Findings of the WIMF's second edition (2018)

State of moral freedom around the world

Only one country, the Netherlands, is classified as having the "highest" level of moral freedom by scoring slightly over the 90 points required for that label. Just four countries make it into the upper twenty points, and only ten pass the 75 point threshold. Out of the 160 countries considered, only 64 "pass the exam" and score 50 points or more. And around 30% of all countries fall in the "low", "very low" or "lowest" moral freedom areas of the index. Technology and the cultural globalization that it produces are deemed by the authors to be the most powerful driving forces towards acceptance of individual moral freedom.

Netherlands

With a three-point (three per cent) advantage over their closest competitor and eight points over the third, the Netherlands top the 2016 country ranking. The Dutch score is twenty-one points higher than the average of all countries enjoying "high" or "very high" moral freedom. For many decades, whenever moral freedom was discussed, the Netherlands had the least interventionist policies. The first country to fight human trafficking by legalising sex services performed by consenting adults, or to normalize the use of cannabis, or to acknowledge same sex marriage already in 2001, performs remarkably high in most indicators considered towards the index.

Latin countries

A trend may be inferred towards international unification of the legal and political approach to moral issues. And that trend favours the Western world's predominant choice for low moral interference by the state. This is particularly noticeable when looking at the index performance of many Latin European and Latin American countries, which seem to reveal a fast cultural evolution from traditional, conservative values into a laissez-faire approach to morality. Five of the top ten countries are Romance-speaking, while nine other Romance-speaking countries in Europe and the Americas make it to the "high moral freedom" region of the index. The particular performance of countries like Portugal or Uruguay is much higher than their recent history would indicate. These and other Latin countries seem to have discarded their traditional background of religiously influenced governance. Greece, while not a Latin country, shares a Mediterranean heritage with Latin countries and also makes it to the "high moral freedom" region.

Islamic countries and other religious-influenced states

The fifteen lowest scoring countries at the World Index of Moral Freedom are Islamic and located in the Persian Gulf, North-Eastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. This is also true for the region's economically free enclaves in the area. Saudi Arabia comes last (160th) in the ranking and doesn't even score ten points out of the one hundred potentially available. Only four predominantly Islamic countries obtain more than fifty points: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Turkey and Kazakhstan. A few non Islamic countries also show low levels of moral freedom which the authors consider likely to be due to a strong political leverage held by another religion.

Russia

In Russia, moral conservatism, derived from either the Orthodox faith or traditional culture, seems to have replaced Marxism as the basis for an ongoing, though softer, social engineering by the state. Russia's score is just in the middle of the classification, a position shared by some of her cultural and political allies, like Serbia, Moldova and Belarus. In all of these countries, the freedom of LGBT individuals is a matter of particular concern.

Communist countries

The remaining communist regimes coerce their citizens into abiding by a moral code based on allegedly scientific views. Freedom of conscience and the practice of any religion are repressed. In the case of the People's Republic of China, decades of limited economic liberalization have not resulted in an equally noticeable moral openness. Two other communist regimes, North Korea and Vietnam, fall further down into the low moral freedom area, while moral freedom is deemed insufficient in Laos and just slightly over the fifty point threshold in socialist Venezuela or in outright communist Cuba.

Other findings

For different reasons, often including abnormally low scores in a particular set of indicators, a few Western countries which perform reasonably high in other freedom indices rank rather low at the WIMF. Hungary and Norway fail to make it into the "high moral freedom" area, although just for under half a point. The British and Irish performance is particularly low within the moral freedom area, compared to the Anglo countries of North America and Australasia. Iceland, Japan, Poland and Romania barely manage to pass the fifty point mark. While most countries topping the WIMF in its first edition belong to the developed world, some countries with a lesser degree of development have also made their way into the higher classification areas. Cambodia, scoring just over seventy points, obtains the fifteenth place in the global classification and is the first developing country in the index. It is also worth noting that the four European micro-states considered −the principalities of Andorra and Monaco and the republics of San Marino and Malta− score surprisingly low in comparison with their bigger neighbours. In spite of their high living standards and economic freedom, these countries fail to perform similarly when it comes to moral freedom. A similar situation is observed in Caribbean and South Pacific island micro-states, which score poorly in most categories and rank in the lower areas of the WIMF classification. This similarity between very small countries in different regions, in spite of the cultural influence of their neighbours and allies, may lead to the conclusion that moral freedom is affected, among other relevant factors, by country size.

WIMF 2020 ranking

RankCountryScoreRankMoral freedom classification, by indicator
20202018Variation2018VariationReligionBioethicalDrugsSexualityGenderOverall
1 Netherlands 95.4491.334.111097.1395.0097.5997.5090.00Highest
2 Portugal 95.4386.938.502097.1391.8898.13100.0090.00Highest
3 Canada 91.9486.585.363099.5795.0094.6582.5088.00Highest
4 Belgium 90.8278.9811.8411798.0095.0073.5897.5090.00Highest
5 Uruguay 89.9984.505.494−197.1378.7588.08100.0086.00Very High
6 Luxembourg 87.6172.2315.3813797.1380.0073.4397.5090.00Very High
7 Austria 86.0672.1313.9314798.0068.7573.53100.0090.00Very High
8 Spain 86.0581.604.457−197.1368.7576.8997.5090.00Very High
9 Mexico 85.1481.333.818−195.3877.5096.0687.5069.25Very High
10 Italy 84.6166.3818.23231396.8368.7592.49100.0065.00Very High
11 Germany 84.5383.031.506−596.8375.0060.85100.0090.00Very High
12 Denmark 83.3971.0812.3116497.1388.7539.06100.0092.00Very High
13 Switzerland 83.2880.882.409−497.1375.0077.5497.5069.25Very High
14 Czech Republic 83.2183.63−0.425−999.0067.5097.05100.0052.50Very High
15 Australia 82.8066.4816.3222798.4193.1372.4560.0090.00Very High
16 Colombia 81.1576.155.0012−495.9648.7575.06100.0086.00Very High
17 Argentina 77.8271.086.7415−295.6726.8871.55100.0095.00High
18 Slovenia 76.4769.636.8418096.1368.7556.47100.0061.00High
19 New Zealand 76.4566.3810.0724597.1360.6336.9997.5090.00High
20 Norway 76.1562.5013.65331397.1368.7542.8580.0092.00High
21 Finland 75.5765.839.7427696.1337.5056.7197.5090.00High
22 France 75.0068.156.8521−196.8368.7536.9382.5090.00High
23 South Africa 74.6261.3313.29351296.2582.5088.3845.0061.00High
24 Brazil 74.4668.935.5320−495.6730.6356.03100.0090.00High
25 Greece 74.4265.888.5426194.2588.7538.58100.0050.50High
26 Ireland 74.3964.0510.3431596.1368.7538.8276.2592.00High
27 Israel 74.2750.5323.74623592.3857.5071.49100.0050.00High
28 United States 73.6879.15−5.4710−1897.1288.1365.1830.0088.00High
29 Croatia 73.0459.5013.54391092.3862.5073.8265.0071.50High
30 Chile 72.4363.289.1532294.2526.8871.52100.0069.50High
31 Ecuador 72.3765.137.2429−295.0936.2571.51100.0059.00High
32 Estonia 72.0269.032.9919−1397.4162.5037.20100.0063.00High
33 Sweden 71.6965.955.7425−897.1368.7520.0982.5090.00High
34 Malta 70.7355.3315.40441095.130.0073.0497.5088.00High
35 Cyprus 70.3453.3516.99511694.2587.5038.7193.7537.50High
36 Georgia 70.0049.2520.75673194.9587.5071.0762.5034.00High
37 Hungary 69.2764.754.5230−793.2188.7519.91100.0044.50High
38 United Kingdom 69.2060.638.5736−296.8357.5041.6560.0090.00High
39 Peru 67.4760.586.8937−294.2536.2576.83100.0030.00High
40 Bulgaria 66.8052.4514.35561696.1362.5020.63100.0054.75High
41 Iceland 65.9954.0811.9146597.9962.5021.9582.5065.00High
42 North Macedonia 64.7853.7511.0348696.1367.5055.2575.0030.00High
43 Slovakia 64.2461.952.2934−996.1367.5019.58100.0038.00High
44 Poland 64.2252.7011.52541094.2536.2554.58100.0036.00High
45 Latvia 63.9859.254.7340−597.1367.5019.7697.5038.00High
46 Bolivia 62.3065.30−3.0028−1896.1336.2539.13100.0040.00High
47 Jamaica 62.0653.508.5649296.1331.2590.4362.5030.00High
48 Costa Rica 62.0353.458.5850289.5031.2534.39100.0055.00High
49 Serbia 61.4353.138.3053490.5062.5020.16100.0034.00High
50 Honduras 60.8442.4518.391075789.5015.6319.07100.0080.00High
51 Bosnia and Herzegovina 60.3655.255.1145−692.3867.5021.4182.5038.00High
52 Lithuania 59.5652.257.3157597.1367.5036.6962.5034.00Acceptable
53 Moldova 57.7452.505.2455295.1362.5054.5942.5034.00Acceptable
54 Romania 57.7356.501.2341−1395.2567.5020.9065.0040.00Acceptable
55 Trinidad and Tobago 57.6045.3812.22943996.1331.2570.6265.0025.00Acceptable
56 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 57.2048.388.82741896.1331.2568.6165.0025.00Acceptable
57 Paraguay 56.3855.630.7543−1494.2520.6337.02100.0030.00Acceptable
58 Montenegro 56.2859.65−3.3738−2096.1362.5019.7665.0038.00Acceptable
59 Panama 55.2051.753.4558−194.2531.2516.49100.0034.00Acceptable
60 Armenia 55.1349.955.1864492.7987.5021.3640.0034.00Acceptable
61 Albania 54.6953.131.5652−996.1362.5019.8565.0030.00Acceptable
62 Mongolia 54.4047.706.70771596.1362.5020.8562.5030.00Acceptable
63 Korea, South 54.3846.388.00821994.8073.7538.3725.0040.00Acceptable
64 Japan 53.5350.852.6860−496.2547.5023.4262.5038.00Acceptable
65 San Marino 53.4349.553.8866196.1315.6339.9165.0050.50Acceptable
66 Mozambique 53.4149.703.7165−186.7531.2521.5697.5030.00Acceptable
67 Singapore 53.3245.707.62892274.6072.5012.0277.5030.00Acceptable
68 Kenya 53.1936.9516.241205296.2536.2520.9787.5025.00Acceptable
69 Ukraine 52.8847.585.3078963.6487.5037.7842.5033.00Acceptable
70 India 51.3956.35−4.9642−2863.2157.5035.7467.5033.00Acceptable
71 Senegal 51.1547.253.9080996.1315.6321.4897.5025.00Acceptable
72 Guinea-Bissau 51.1245.255.87952395.1315.6322.3597.5025.00Acceptable
73 Andorra 50.9645.005.96962398.1315.6321.5465.0054.50Acceptable
74 Ghana 50.6248.631.9972−295.1331.2539.2262.5025.00Acceptable
75 Mali 50.3039.3011.001174278.2531.2522.01100.0020.00Acceptable
76 Tajikistan 50.2947.502.7979353.0067.5016.9480.0034.00Acceptable
77 Madagascar 49.7046.333.3783686.7515.6321.11100.0025.00Insufficient
78 Botswana 49.5339.5010.031153798.0031.2519.3870.0029.00Insufficient
79 Kazakhstan 49.2250.70−1.4861−1848.1987.5016.4160.0034.00Insufficient
80 Guatemala 48.6043.834.771002089.5015.6320.3687.5030.00Insufficient
81 Kyrgyzstan 48.5246.002.5284352.2562.5016.3477.5034.00Insufficient
82 Tunisia 48.3542.585.771062479.6662.5019.5850.0030.00Insufficient
83 Lebanon 48.2033.9014.301294691.0515.6337.8467.5029.00Insufficient
84 Belarus 47.7045.702.0088473.1587.5017.3622.5038.00Insufficient
85 Guinea 47.6949.00−1.3169−1695.1331.2522.0865.0025.00Insufficient
86 Nepal 47.5948.83−1.2471−1581.1362.5038.8222.5033.00Insufficient
87 Bahamas, The 47.5245.502.0290398.0031.2515.8762.5030.00Insufficient
88 El Salvador 47.3839.208.181183093.250.0013.65100.0030.00Insufficient
89 Monaco 46.7048.95−2.2570−1960.5031.2521.2682.5038.00Insufficient
90 Saint Lucia 46.6445.880.7686−496.1331.2518.3062.5025.00Insufficient
91 Malawi 46.4748.45−1.9873−1895.3815.6338.8662.5020.00Insufficient
92 Seychelles 46.3647.88−1.5276−1694.2531.2516.2865.0025.00Insufficient
93 Liberia 46.3345.500.8391−296.1331.2521.7552.5030.00Insufficient
94 Nicaragua 46.1536.339.821222885.750.0017.5297.5030.00Insufficient
95 Angola 46.0936.139.961242998.7015.6321.1165.0030.00Insufficient
96 Ivory Coast 45.6546.70−1.0581−1591.3815.6321.2770.0030.00Insufficient
97 Russia 45.4754.00−8.5347−5046.3287.5017.0642.5034.00Insufficient
98 Venezuela 45.4350.38−4.9563−3580.9420.6316.0877.5032.00Insufficient
99 Cambodia 45.3870.50−25.1217−8272.7262.5036.7025.0030.00Insufficient
100 Suriname 44.8045.00−0.2097−396.1315.6319.7662.5030.00Insufficient
101 Ethiopia 44.5734.2510.321282778.4831.2520.6067.5025.00Insufficient
102 Guyana 44.1251.45−7.3359−4392.3862.5018.2422.5025.00Insufficient
103 Solomon Islands 44.1245.75−1.6387−1696.1315.6321.3362.5025.00Insufficient
104 Gambia, The 43.6245.43−1.8192−1287.3031.2522.0452.5025.00Insufficient
105 Cuba 43.5349.00−5.4768−3749.7862.5014.8557.5033.00Insufficient
106 Tonga 43.4040.383.02113768.8815.6320.0182.5030.00Insufficient
107 Azerbaijan 42.4742.300.17108153.1067.5015.2342.5034.00Insufficient
108 Turkey 42.1448.03−5.8975−3331.3262.5031.3947.5038.00Insufficient
109 Cameroon 41.6045.88−4.2885−2496.1331.2520.6440.0020.00Insufficient
110 Haiti 41.1143.75−2.64101−996.1315.6321.3052.5020.00Insufficient
111 Zimbabwe 40.8943.70−2.81102−982.3931.2538.2922.5030.00Insufficient
112 Mauritius 40.7445.38−4.6493−1996.1315.6319.4642.5030.00Insufficient
113 Philippines 40.4039.630.77114179.0815.6337.3245.0025.00Insufficient
114 Dominica 39.4842.75−3.27105−996.1315.6318.1742.5025.00Low
115 Tuvalu 38.7741.93−3.16109−684.8815.6320.8542.5030.00Low
116 Dominican Republic 38.3140.78−2.47112−495.130.0018.9547.5030.00Low
117 Laos 38.2644.25−5.9998−1967.0031.2538.0525.0030.00Low
118 Comoros 38.1429.258.891311331.1331.2518.3565.0045.00Low
119 Vietnam 37.9035.382.52126737.6682.5016.8322.5030.00Low
120 Eswatini 37.6341.50−3.87111−985.7531.2518.6322.5030.00Low
121 China 36.8639.30−2.44116−538.0862.5020.7025.0038.00Low
122 Uzbekistan 36.7343.93−7.2099−2344.1562.5016.5022.5038.00Low
123 Sri Lanka 36.3921.9014.491442151.3815.6338.4342.5034.00Low
124 Thailand 36.2029.386.82130650.0735.6322.2945.0028.00Low
125 Equatorial Guinea 35.9643.13−7.17104−2189.5031.2521.5612.5025.00Low
126 Korea, North 35.7534.501.25127137.5062.5028.7525.0025.00Low
127 Nigeria 35.5027.288.22135848.7936.2521.9652.5018.00Low
128 Papua New Guinea 35.4143.25−7.84103−2596.1315.6321.5718.7525.00Low
129 Malaysia 34.5326.208.33137877.3431.2519.0530.0015.00Low
130 Algeria 34.3520.2514.101491922.7531.2520.2477.5020.00Low
131 Central African Republic 33.5037.23−3.73119−1220.8815.6318.5187.5025.00Low
132 Rwanda 32.6636.20−3.54123−959.7331.2514.8432.5025.00Low
133 Uganda 32.3441.88−9.54110−2376.0531.2516.8912.5025.00Low
134 Morocco 32.0626.205.86138438.8431.2532.7032.5025.00Low
135 Bangladesh 31.3828.532.85134−121.8115.6335.4760.0024.00Low
136 Indonesia 30.6122.937.68142620.5131.2517.2760.0024.00Low
137 Myanmar 29.7926.133.66139212.1415.6333.6962.5025.00Low
138 Jordan 29.5835.88−6.30125−1329.6031.2519.5362.505.00Low
139 Eritrea 27.0326.800.23136−320.1331.2511.2547.5025.00Low
140 Turkmenistan 26.8936.88−9.99121−195.0067.5010.4722.5029.00Low
141 Djibouti 26.7329.13−2.40132−926.5015.6314.0152.5025.00Low
142 Mauritania 24.4428.73−4.29133−912.3815.6321.7152.5020.00Low
143 Egypt 24.4217.257.171531021.9415.6317.0152.5015.00Low
144 Pakistan 22.2018.054.15151715.3131.2539.430.0025.00Low
145 Iraq 21.8012.639.171571219.0015.6316.8652.505.00Low
146 Bahrain 21.5521.250.30146015.0067.5015.240.0010.00Low
147 Qatar 20.4715.634.84156931.8831.2521.7112.505.00Low
148 Maldives 20.2825.75−5.47140−835.1331.2515.020.0020.00Low
149 Syria 19.7823.30−3.52141−830.4515.6317.8525.0010.00Very Low
150 Libya 17.9821.00−3.02147−318.2131.2520.420.0020.00Very Low
151 Brunei 16.0519.88−3.83150−121.7515.6310.4022.5010.00Very Low
152 Kuwait 16.0215.930.09155321.8831.2517.000.0010.00Very Low
153 Oman 15.7720.63−4.86148−524.3831.2518.210.005.00Very Low
154 Iran 15.5117.75−2.24152−27.0820.6331.840.0018.00Very Low
155 Somalia 15.1322.25−7.12143−1216.2515.6311.2512.5020.00Very Low
156 Sudan 14.7921.43−6.64145−113.4831.2514.2225.000.00Very Low
157 Saudi Arabia 12.8610.132.7316038.5331.254.550.0020.00Very Low
158 United Arab Emirates 12.1411.500.64158017.9015.6317.190.0010.00Very Low
159 Yemen 10.1911.23−1.04159012.3815.6317.960.005.00Very Low
160 Afghanistan 9.5916.50−6.91154−612.3815.639.950.0010.00Lowest

See also

Notes and references

  1. World Index of Moral Freedom (WIMF)

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Good Country Index Index measuring how much each country contributes to the planet and the human race

The Good Country Index measures how much each of the 163 countries on the list contribute to the planet, and to the human race, through their policies and behaviors.

North Korea ranks as the least democratic country in the world in The Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index, while The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal's Index of Economic Freedom places the country as the one with least economic freedom. According to the Press Freedom Index, North Korea has the least free press in the world.

The V-Dem Institute is an independent research institute founded by Professor Staffan I. Lindberg in 2014 and is funded by a number of government organizations, World Bank and several research institutions.The headquarters of the project is based at the department of political science, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.