Keep in mind that sources used rank freedoms at a 1-2 year lag, so recent political developments are not captured.
The State of World Liberty Index was a combination of indices compiled originally by Nick Wilson in 2006. Since then, I've annually updated the index. My methodology is similar to the original with the following exceptions: I use only the civil liberties portion of Freedom House, economic liberty (Fraser/Heritage) is weighted evenly with social liberty, and the Reporters without Borders Press Freedom Scores are of equal weight to each of the Freedom House Civil Liberties sub-components. All changes are done with the purpose of creating the most accurate relative ranking of countries by the degree of liberty (economic and social) enjoyed by the average individual within the state or territory. Note, the ranking is not reflective of, nor does it include, political or electoral rights. Where data is available, territories or colonies (e.g. Hong Kong) are included.
Also included is a ranking of the Conservative-Progressive spectrum, where conservative is more economic liberty relative to social liberty, and progressive is more social liberty relative to economic liberty. This added dimension allows for grouping states by both freedoms and ideology, such as Moderate Free (Switzerland) and Moderate Tyranny (Zimbabwe), Progressive Free (Uruguay) and Progressive Tyranny (Venezuela), and Conservative Free (perhaps Hong Kong) and Conservative Tyranny (Myanmar).
Of note, there does not appear to be a dramatic change in the relative ranking due to COVID (though Canada and Australia both fall significantly). There is, however, a notable overall shift toward greater restrictions on social behaviors (e.g. COVID related restrictions on assembly), shifting the distribution in the Conservative-Progressive graph upward for most states.
Full rankings, along with past years, are here: [LINK]
2022 Liberty by Quintile. Colors represent countries grouped by quintiles in order of blue (top 20%), green (20-40%), yellow (40-60%), orange (60-80%), and red (80-100%)
2022 Most Free Countries:
1. New Zealand
2. Switzerland
2. Ireland
4. Finland
5. Sweden
5. Norway
5. Denmark
8. Luxembourg
8. Estonia
10. Netherlands
10. Canada
2022 Most Oppressive Countries:
1. North Korea
2. Venezuela
3. Syria
4. Eritrea
4. Libya
4. Sudan
4. Cuba
8. Turkmenistan
8. Iran
8. Yemen
2022 Five Year Change in Liberty. Blue is an increase in rank by >20 and green >10 since 2018. Orange is a fall in rank of >10 and red >20 since 2018.
2022 Greatest 5 Year Increase:
1. Ecuador
2. The Gambia
3. Djibouti
4. Sao Tome y Principe
4. Togo
6. Moldova
7. Kiribati
7. Uzbekistan
9. Barbados
9. Timor-Leste
9. Ukraine
9. Kazakhstan
2022 Greatest 5 Year Decrease:
1. Nicaragua
2. Hong Kong
3. Tanzania
4. India
5. Comoros
6. Singapore
7. Georgia
7. Philippines
7. Israel
7. Zimbabwe
7. Lebanon
2022 Conservative-Progressive Ranking. Grouped by Quintile, red is very conservative, pink is conservative, yellow is moderate, light blue is progressive, and blue is very progressive.
The below graphs the amount of liberty enjoyed by the average citizen of a state (x-axis) by the balance of whether the state more heavily regulates economic or social behaviors (y-axis).
2022 Most Conservative:
1. Bahrain
2. Singapore
3. United Arab Emirates
4. Saudi Arabia
5. Hong Kong
5. Azerbaijan
5. Belarus
8. Turkmenistan
9. Somalia
10. Uzbekistan
2022 Most Progressive:
1. Argentina
2. Dominica
3. Kiribati
4. Belize
5. Micronesia
5. Suriname
5. Barbados
8. Solomon Islands
9. St. Lucia
9. St. Vincent and the Grenadines
9. Timor-Leste