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How does the United States rank on the Human Freedom Index 2023 compared with Canada and Western Europe?
Executive summary
The Human Freedom Index (HFI) 2023 (covering conditions in 2021) rates 165 jurisdictions and gives an average human freedom score of 6.75; the HFI report shows Canada ranking well above the United States and places much of Western Europe among the world’s freest jurisdictions (Canada ≈ 11–13 depending on paper; United States ≈ tied 17th in the 2024 summary or 23rd in earlier 2022 reporting) [1] [2] [3]. Available sources show Western Europe dominating the top ranks (Switzerland, Nordic countries, Ireland, Luxembourg, Estonia among leaders) while the U.S. scores below many Western European countries and below Canada on the HFI’s overall list [4] [3] [2].
1. What the HFI measures and the scope of the 2023 report
The Human Freedom Index combines personal and economic freedom into a single human freedom score using dozens of indicators (the 2023 edition uses roughly 82–86 indicators across areas such as rule of law, movement, expression, and economic regulation) and covers 165 jurisdictions representing about 98–99% of the world’s population; the 2023/2024 publications analyze data for 2021 [5] [1] [6]. That means rankings reflect a composite of many liberties—not only speech or political rights but also property, trade, money, and regulatory environment [4].
2. How Canada ranks relative to the U.S. in the HFI
Canada is consistently placed notably higher than the United States in the HFI materials cited: select summaries list Canada in the top dozen (Canada cited as 11th in Fraser Institute materials and 13th in earlier year synopses), whereas the United States appears lower—ranked 23rd in the HFI 2022 summary and tied for 17th in a 2024 summary that compares 2022 data—showing some year-to-year movement but a clear pattern that Canada outranks the U.S. in the HFI measures [2] [4] [3]. The HFI authors stress that these rankings reflect combined personal and economic freedom measures rather than a single-domain judgement [4].
3. Western Europe’s position on the index
Western Europe dominates the top of the HFI in 2023/2024: Switzerland is listed as the freest place, followed by New Zealand, and multiple Western European countries appear in the highest positions—Denmark, Luxembourg, Ireland, Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Netherlands and Estonia among them—placing much of Western Europe well above both Canada and the United States on average [3] [4]. The HFI also notes that women-specific freedoms are strongest in North America and Western Europe, reinforcing the regional strength on multiple indicators [5] [6].
4. Numbers and averages worth noting
The HFI reports an average human freedom score of about 6.75 (on a 0–10 scale) for the set of jurisdictions in the 2023 edition; jurisdictions in the top quartile have substantially higher per-capita incomes on average ($47,421 cited for top quartile in some summaries) compared with the least-free quartile, highlighting the index’s framing of freedom alongside economic outcomes [1] [5]. Country-specific numeric scores and exact rank orders are in the full HFI tables [4].
5. Interpreting differences — what the ranking does and does not prove
The HFI is an aggregate index that weights economic and personal freedoms; therefore a country can rank lower because of regulatory, tax, or monetary-policy measures even if it scores high on civil liberties, or vice versa [4]. The Fraser Institute and Cato framing emphasizes correlations—e.g., between freedom and income—but available sources do not attempt to prove causation beyond statistical association [5] [6]. If you want to judge a country for a specific dimension (speech, criminal justice, or business regulation), the HFI’s composite ranking should be read alongside domain-specific measures [4].
6. Discrepancies, year-to-year shifts, and competing presentations
Different HFI summaries and years show somewhat different placements for the U.S. (23rd in the 2022/journalized summary; tied 17th in a 2024 summary) and small shifts for Canada and Western European states—these reflect updated datasets and the indexing window (reports covering 2020–2021 vs. 2021–2022) rather than a single authoritative “2023 rank” [2] [3]. Secondary aggregators (e.g., WorldPopulationReview) repeat the HFI average score and methodology descriptions, but for precise country ranks consult the HFI full PDF tables [1] [7] [4].
7. Bottom line and next steps for verification
Bottom line: the Human Freedom Index places Canada above the United States and ranks most Western European countries above the U.S. on its composite human-freedom scale for the editions cited; the HFI average score is roughly 6.75 for the 2023 release covering 2021 data [1] [2] [3]. To confirm the exact numeric rank for each country in the specific 2023 publication, consult the full HFI tables in the Fraser Institute / Cato Institute PDFs linked in the report [4] [7].