For the first time in a quarter century, the United States posted its largest increase in economic freedom, a jump of nearly three points that The Heritage Foundation attributes to policies implemented by the Trump administration.
Since 1995, Heritage has published the Index of Economic Freedom, an annual report evaluating 184 countries. Heritage defines economic freedom as “the fundamental right of every human to control his or her own labor and property.”
The index measures 12 economic freedoms, which fall into four categories: rule of law, government size, regulatory efficiency, and open markets.
US Gains Ground
The United States’ score rose 2.6 points, the largest increase since 2001 and the biggest improvement among advanced economies. The U.S. economic freedom score is 72.8, making it the 22nd freest country in the 2026 report.
The rise reverses a five-year decline in America’s economic freedom score, which paralleled President Joe Biden’s tenure in the White House.
“Gains in monetary freedom, government spending, fiscal health, and investment freedom have outpaced the lower score in trade freedom, reflecting the positive impact of major regulatory and tax reforms on economic growth, investment, and business confidence,” the index noted of the U.S. improvement.
‘Impressive Results’
The index’s preface attributes the United States’ “impressive results” to the Trump administration, citing a stock market near all-time highs and stable interest rates, inflation, and unemployment.
Anthony B. Kim, the index’s editor and Jay Kingham research fellow in international economic affairs, credited the economy’s improvement to President Donald Trump.
Kim told The Daily Signal that “progress is not accidental. It reflects the Trump administration’s pragmatic pro-growth economic strategy,” which he said, “has cut government jobs, slowed spending, and prioritized private-sector growth through proactive, bold deregulatory and tax reforms.”
Trump’s critics, however, said the president’s policies are restricting economic freedom.
“I fear that actions he’s taken, both in terms of tariffs and the Iran war, are going to have serious implications for our economy that I’m very worried about,” said Barry Bluestone, a professor emeritus at Northeastern University’s School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs.
Bluestone cautioned that such policies could worsen inflation over the next six to 12 months.
He claimed that Trump’s policies have largely benefited the wealthy, while many Americans are still struggling to make ends meet.
Global Highlights
Argentina was ranked the best-performing country in the 2026 index, with an increase of 3.2 points from last year.
In response to the news, Argentine President Javier Milei said, “I’m not saying we’re Switzerland, but we were 146th in the economic freedom ranking, and we moved up 40 places. … Imagine when all the reforms kick in.”
China, meanwhile, fell 0.7 points from last year, with a score of 48.3. It is ranked 154th out of 184 countries, due to the Chinese Communist Party’s direct control over the economy.
Globally, the average nation scores “mostly unfree” at 59.9 on the index, meaning half of all countries are below the 60-point threshold.
Singapore, Switzerland, Ireland, Australia, and Taiwan rank as the world’s freest economies.
Reagan Campbell is an intern for The Daily Signal.
Reprinted with Permission from The Daily Signal – By Reagan Campbell
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
Thank you President Trump. God has blessed America.
Of course the democrats are cutting this down right away. President Trump had America prospering when Biden took over and we fell right away into inflation as high as 24% on food. And they are still there. Who benefitted from that then. The food industry billionaires. They burned down warehouses full of food to create shortage, contaminated baby food to create a panic in America to hide the inflation that was increasing daily. But then what did you expect from the democrats, the Muslims to destroy this country. President Trump has corrected most of these problems but they still hold to the rhetoric he helped the rich. No people, he helped everyone it’s the democrats that fight his policies and bills tooth and nail by lying about what’s in it. The dems don’t know how to rule because they want to do what Trump is doing only they have no smart people that can come up with all these corrections Trump has done. It’s harder to destroy a country than to lift her up and make her prosperous.President Trump is the only one that can save this country from the communist/muslim left.
Because we have a President who finally cares and knows how to do the job! President Trump also takes pride in this country and he is not afraid to defend it from all enemies foreign and domestic! God bless President Trump!
Democrats hate liberty of any kind. A vote for a Democrat is a vote for slavery. Only fools vote to enslave themselves.
How sad that the haters of our President Trump will never see this article and if they do see it, they will say it’s a lie. Think of what our country would be like now IF we did not have a media that for the most part shares the Trump/MAGA hate just like the radical Democrats/Communists. Think how much better our economy would be, ICE would have cleared out nearly all of the dangerous illegal aliens, many who have been killed would still be alive, etc. We must continue to pray that God will find a way to end this seemingly never-ending struggle for our great country to survive!!
Democrats will find the liberal federal district court judge to block this. And raise the misery index to where it should be
Winning in the mid-terms should not even be a question. People who dislike Trump so much that they will vote Democrat no matter what are like “cutting off your nose to spite your face”.
WOW! What are all the 21 countries that are better economically than we are?
And to think, TDS has so ruled the minds of so many, who cannot realize the good things that our President has accomplished. Could it possibly be because they are in a fixed, dependent state, whereby no economic improvement changes their life?
This President has so helped most of us!
Will this matter in the midterms? Because that’s what matters right now. Most people will never know, or care, about these hidden pieces of information.
The average joe is not feeling it, yet. I hope Trump can get the prices down before mid-terms. Unfortunately, most people in the US have short attention spans.
Hmmm. I was good with this until I read that Australia is listed as one of the world’s freest economies…
Did someone leave the door to your cage unlocked today? Go back and tell Barney hello, loser!
One would think you live in a cave,man!