Albania has lost nine spots in the global ranking of economic freedom 2021, published by the Heritage Foundation, which is known as one of the most prestigious publications in this regard.

Albania ranked 66th in the world, with a score of 65.2 points, which translates into a decrease of 1.7 points compared to a year ago, when the country were ranked 57th in the world. Two years ago, meanwhile, Albania was ranked 52nd globally.

The Heritage Foundation explains this decline in rankings and scores with the deterioration of property rights and the effectiveness of the judiciary. Among European countries, Albania is ranked 35th among 45 countries, while the overall score turns out to be below the global average, according to data published in the report. The deterioration of the last year has slowed progress towards the European average.

“Despite the low score, the government has managed to maintain control over the budget deficit and public debt," the report said. “To advance as a candidate for the European Union, Albania must strengthen the rule of law institutions, as well as improve scoring in terms of property rights, the effectiveness of the judiciary, and the integrity of government," the Foundation said.

In terms of indicators, trade and labor freedom deteriorated, while the tax burden, fiscal health, business freedom, monetary freedom and governance integrity improved.

Albania is classified as a predominantly free country, leaving behind countries such as Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Greece or Croatia. Kosovo, meanwhile, ranks 58th globally.

Singapore on the other hand remains the only country in the world that is considered economically free in every Index category, although its indicator scores for fiscal health and financial freedom just scraped through the threshold for the highest category.

The index ranks 12 indicators from property rights to financial freedom under four categories: rule of law, size of government, regulatory efficiency and open markets. The small island nation of Singapore made improvements or maintained its score for all 12 indicators except monetary freedom and judicial effectiveness which declined marginally, but its scores in these two indicators are still exceptionally high when compared with most other countries.

The Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom is an annual guide published to measure the progress made in advancing economic freedom which it claims brings greater prosperity. The Foundation also believes that "the ideals of economic freedom are strongly associated with healthier societies, cleaner environments, greater per capita wealth, human development, democracy, and poverty elimination."

In addition, citizens of free or mostly free countries "enjoy incomes that are more than double the global average and more than six times higher than in repressed economies."