In terms of economic freedoms for the year 2009, Croatia ranks 116th out of 179 countries worldwide, and among European countries, it occupies the 38th position out of 43 countries, according to the report on the Index of Economic Freedom for 2009 by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal, as reported by the Adriatic Institute for Public Policy.
The Croatian economy is estimated to be 55.1 percent free on a scale from zero to 100 for the year 2009, što classifies Croatia among "mostly unfree countries." Compared to the previous year, this represents an increase of 0.5 percentage points, što the report interprets as "marginal improvements in freedom from corruption and the size of public administration." In last year’s report, which covered 157 countries worldwide, Croatia was ranked 113th, with an economic freedom score of 54.6 percent. This year’s score, the report states, is significantly below the regional average, that is, Europe, which stands at 66.3 percent. Among European countries, the top three in economic freedoms are Ireland, Denmark, and Švicarska, and ahead of Croatia are most neighboring countries.
For instance, Hungary is ranked 44th globally and 22nd in Europe, Slovenia is at 68th and 30th, Italy at 76th and 32nd, Montenegro at 94th and 36th, and Serbia at 109th globally and 37th in Europe. An exception is Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is ranked 134th among the covered countries worldwide and 40th in Europe. The report assesses the level of economic freedoms through ten categories, and Croatia achieved results slightly above average in the categories of trade (87.6 percent), monetary (79 percent), and financial freedom (60 percent). It is noted that the inflation rate in Croatia is low, and prices are relatively stable, but that the score for Croatian monetary freedom is "affected by the retention of state price manipulation."
