Israel's ranking in the ''The Wall Street Journal'' and Heritage Foundation's "2004 Index of Economic Freedom" has improved.
Israel received 2.36 points. The index runs from one to five: one point means complete economic freedom and five points means no economic freedom. Israel's score has steadily improved for the past five years: 2.4 points in the 2003 index, 2.55 points in 2002, 2.6 points in 2001, and 2.7 points in 2000.
Israel was ranked 29th out of 155 countries in 2004, and second, after Bahrain, among Middle Eastern and North African countries.
The Index of Economic Freedom classifies economies into four groups: free, mostly free, mostly unfree, and repressed. Israel is classified as mostly free.
The 2004 Index of Economic Freedom's editors credit Minister of Finance Benjamin Netanyahu and say that if his policies prevail, Israel will see more privatization and less public-sector growth.
The world's freest economy in 2004 was Hong Kong, followed by Singapore, New Zealand, Luxembourg, Ireland, Estonia, the UK, Denmark, and Switzerland.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on January 11, 2004