Iraq excluded from the 2026 Index of Economic Freedom… and an expert explains the repercussions
The Heritage Foundation’s “Index of Economic Freedom 2026” report revealed that Iraq was not included in the ranking of countries this year, due to a lack of reliable economic data and a weak level of transparency necessary to calculate its scores, continuing its absence from the index since its last official assessment more than two decades ago.
The organization stated in a report seen by Shafaq News Agency that Iraq was included in the list of unranked countries, along with Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Liechtenstein and Ukraine, due to the lack of sufficient data on key indicators including investment freedom, business freedom, monetary freedom and property rights, which makes it difficult to assess its business environment or compare it with other countries included in the ranking.
The report explained that the index covers about 176 countries and is based on four main pillars: (the rule of law, the size of government, regulatory efficiency and open markets). It also measures 12 sub-indicators, which are given scores ranging from zero to 100 to determine the level of economic freedom in each country.
According to the results, Singapore topped the global rankings with 84.4 points, followed by Switzerland with 83.7 points, and then Ireland with 83.3 points, benefiting from open market environments, strong property rights protections, and high institutional efficiency. In contrast, Lebanon and Iran ranked among the lowest globally, scoring 43.1 and 41.8 points respectively.
On the Arab level, the report showed a disparity in levels of economic freedom, with the United Arab Emirates topping the list with 71.9 points, followed by Qatar with 70.2 points, then the Sultanate of Oman with 68.5 points, while Tunisia, Lebanon and Egypt came in the category of medium to low scores.
For his part, economist Mohammed Al-Hassani told Shafaq News Agency that “Iraq’s absence from the economic freedom index is mainly due to weak government transparency and a lack of accurate data that would enable the measurement of indicators such as investment and trade freedom and business freedom.”
Al-Hassani added that “not including Iraq in the index weakens the ability of foreign investors to assess its business environment, reduces its investment attractiveness, and deprives decision-makers of an international comparison tool that can be relied upon in guiding economic reforms and improving the investment climate.”
Shafaq.com