Uzbekistan ranks 109th in the Economic Freedom Index.

At the end of February, the report for the "Economic Freedom Index" for 2023 was published.

With a score of 56.5 (+0.8 points compared to last year), Uzbekistan ranks 109th among 176 countries worldwide.

Uzbekistan recorded positive changes in 7 out of 12 indicators and negative changes in 5.

Specifically, the positive changes pertained to the following indicators:

• Government integrity (+1.1 points);
• Tax burden (+2 points);
• Labor market freedom (+0.1 points);
• Monetary freedom (+2.3 points);
• Trade freedom (+0.4 points);
• Investment freedom (+10 points);
• Financial freedom (+10 points).

After years of economic stagnation, it has been noted that since 2017, Uzbekistan has been implementing a policy to promote openness and modernization aimed at ensuring economic freedom.

At the same time, Uzbekistan saw declines in property rights (-0.7 points), judicial effectiveness (-0.1 points), government spending (-3.2 points), and business freedom (-0.2 points).

The indicators of the rule of law (property rights, judicial effectiveness, and government integrity) are below the global average, posing obstacles that restrict basic economic freedoms, thus highlighting the need for significant reforms.