The Washington think tank “Atlantic Council” released the Global Freedom and Prosperity Index today, and Taiwan ranked 21st and 19th in the 171 assessed countries worldwide for the two indices, both of which are considered high levels and higher compared to last year; particularly in the Prosperity Index that represents economic development, Taiwan rose significantly by 9 spots from last year’s ranking of 28.
The Atlantic Council’s “Center for Freedom and Prosperity” unveiled the 2026 Global Freedom and Prosperity Index on the 15th. The report concluded that new data shows a continuing decline in global political freedom and rule of law in 2025, with the end of the pandemic seeing an economic rebound, but prosperity indicators are gradually slowing.
The report suggests that the rapid erosion of the judicial foundation that sustains prosperity is a concerning development, with the global average index for freedom and prosperity standing at 62.2 and 66.5 respectively.
Among the 171 countries assessed, Taiwan scored 84.8 for the Freedom Index, ranking 21st, and 86.1 for the Prosperity Index, ranking 19th, both falling into the high-level category. In the East Asia and Pacific region, Japan ranked 14th and 25th for the two indices, South Korea at 25th and 28th, Singapore at 30th and 18th, while China ranked 147th and 93rd, placing it in the least free and low prosperity categories.
In the previous year’s assessment of 164 countries, Taiwan ranked 23rd and 28th for the Freedom and Prosperity indices, both showing improvement in this year’s rankings, with the Prosperity Index making a significant leap by climbing 9 spots.
The Atlantic Council established the Center for Freedom and Prosperity in 2022, utilizing political and economic data post-1995, adding new data and countries annually to publish the Global Freedom and Prosperity Index, which serves as a reference for countries in formulating policies.
The assessment for the Freedom Index includes three main categories: political, economic, and judicial aspects, covering elections, civil rights, investment and trade freedom, judicial independence, and corruption levels. The Prosperity Index evaluates income, health, income equality, environment, opportunities for minority communities, and education across six categories.
(Source: Central News Agency)