Beyond its "ASEAN King" status, Singapore also boasts the highest level of economic freedom globally.

In its 2021 *Index of Economic Freedom* report, the American think tank, The Heritage Foundation, ranked Singapore first as the country with the highest level of economic freedom in the world. The Lion City achieved the highest economic freedom index score, at 89.7 points.

According to the report, Singapore's economic freedom index score in 2021 increased by 0.3 points from the previous year's performance. Singapore was even the only Southeast Asian country to be included in the top 10 globally in terms of economic freedom.

New Zealand ranked second globally in the economic freedom index with a score of 83.9 points. Australia followed with an economic freedom index score of 82.4.

Switzerland had the fourth-highest level of economic freedom in the world with a score of 81.9 points. Meanwhile, Ireland and Taiwan had economic freedom index scores of 81.4 and 78.6 points, respectively.

The Heritage Foundation's 2021 Index of Economic Freedom assessed 178 countries based on twelve factors to determine which had the freest economies. These factors included property rights, judicial effectiveness, government integrity, tax burden, government spending, fiscal health, business freedom, labor freedom, monetary freedom, trade freedom, investment freedom, and financial freedom.

A country's score on each factor was then compiled into a single score, ranking countries from highest to lowest to determine which had the freest economy.