Iraq excluded from 2026 Index of Economic Freedom
Shafaq News- Baghdad
Iraq did not appear in the 2026 Index of Economic Freedom due to insufficient reliable economic data and weak transparency standards, the Heritage Foundation said on Monday.
The foundation placed Iraq among unranked countries for the third consecutive year, alongside Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Liechtenstein, and Ukraine. The index covers around 176 countries and evaluates economic freedom across four main pillars: rule of law, government size, regulatory efficiency, and open markets. It measures 12 sub-indicators, assigning scores between zero and 100 to determine each country’s level of economic freedom.
According to the report, Singapore ranked first globally with 84.4 points, followed by Switzerland with 83.7 and Ireland with 83.3, benefiting from open market environments and strong property rights protections. Lebanon and Iran ranked among the lowest globally, scoring 43.1 and 41.8 points, respectively.
Across the Arab region, the United Arab Emirates topped the ranking with 71.9 points, followed by Qatar with 70.2 and Oman with 68.5.
Economic expert Mohammed Al-Hassani told Shafaq News that Iraq’s absence from the index mainly reflects weak government transparency and the lack of accurate data needed to measure indicators such as investment, trade, and business freedom.
He added that excluding Iraq from the ranking reduces foreign investors’ ability to evaluate the country’s business environment and deprives policymakers of an international benchmark that could guide economic reforms and improve the investment climate.
