The Fraser Institute's Economic Freedom of the World 2024 Annual Report published today has ranked Hong Kong as the world's freest economy among 165 economies, up by one place from 2023.

Among the five areas of assessment in the report, the city ranked top in "Freedom to trade internationally" and "Regulation", while its ranking in "Sound money" rose to third.

In a statement, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government said that Hong Kong has for long, fully leveraged the advantages of a free market, and maintained a free, open, effective and fair business environment, and the ranking fully reflects the international recognition of these advantages.

The statement noted that Hong Kong's free market and premier business environment are attributable to its distinctive institutional strengths under “one country, two systems”.

These include the practice of the common law system, robust rule of law, a judiciary that exercises powers independently, free flow of goods and factors of production such as capital, talent, and information, a simple tax system and low tax rates, a conducive business environment as well as efficient and transparent markets, and a regulatory regime that adheres to international standards.

These factors have made Hong Kong an ideal city for doing business, it added.

Looking forward, the Hong Kong SAR Government said that with the staunch support of the country, Hong Kong will proactively integrate into the overall national development, align with national development strategies, maintain and improve a free and open business environment, and continue to serve as a two-way springboard for attracting international enterprises to Hong Kong and supporting Mainland enterprises to “go global”.

The Policy Address delivered by the Chief Executive today has set out clear directions as well as specific and impactful policies and measures to reinforce and enhance Hong Kong's status as an international financial, shipping and trading centre, build itself into an international hub for high-calibre talent, develop new quality productive forces tailored to local conditions, and foster collaboration with the Greater Bay Area, to further enhance the city's development momentum and promote the high-quality development of its economy.