Azerbaijan has moved up 6 positions in the Economic Freedom Index 2021 prepared by one of the biggest world’s think tanks - Heritage Foundation, and ranked 38th among 172 countries. According to the Index, Azerbaijan’s overall score is above the world average at the level of the European countries. Singapore, New Zealand, and Austria have demonstrated the best results in the Index.

Head of the Department of the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communication Ayaz Museyibov states that by the Index results, Azerbaijan is 23^rd among 45 countries in Europe. In addition, according to the report, Azerbaijan is ahead of Poland, Spain, Slovenia, France, Italy, and other developed countries. There is a close link between the development of economic freedom and the development of human capital, and Azerbaijan is among the most advanced countries in the Index of Economic Freedom. Such an increase was achieved mainly by development trends in banking, real estate, monetary, tax, fiscal, and other areas. With an increase of 0.8 points, Azerbaijan’s score is 70.1. The country has moved from a “moderately free” group to “mostly free”. In the report for 2021, the development tendencies in the Rule of Law indicator are observed in property registration, obtaining credit, protecting minorities' rights, and the enforcement of contracts. Azerbaijan has improved for every 3 sub-indicators of the Government Size indicator – Tax Burden, Government Spending, and Fiscal Health, and Monetary Freedom sub-indicator of the Regulatory Efficiency.

A. Museyibov mentions that according to the Index methodology, countries implementing a policy of economic freedom create favorable conditions for the development of trade and entrepreneurship, which in turn contributes to economic growth and public welfare. The score is calculated by summing up points for 12 indicators, including Rule of Law, Government Size, Regulatory Efficiency, and Open Markets and their sub-indicators. A country received 0-100 points for each indicator. The higher the score is the higher the level of the economic freedom of a country. Thus, the Free economy scores 100, while the lack of fundamental freedom scores 0. In the final report, the world countries are divided into 5 conditional groups for economic freedom status:

• Free (80-100 points);
• Mostly free (70-79.9 points);
• Moderately free (60-69.9 points);
• Mostly unfree (50-59.9 points);
• Repressed (0-lower than 49.9 points).

The Economic Freedom Index, published by the Heritage Foundation, is one of the international reports that serves as a strategic map to track changes in the world. The results of this index are an important source of information not only in terms of scientific research but also in terms of changes in the factors affecting the country's economic freedom, taking into account the interests of investors, especially in developing countries.