World Index of Moral Freedom

The World Index of Moral Freedom[1] is sponsored and published by the Foundation for the Advancement of Liberty, a libertarian think tank based in Madrid, Spain. The Index is an international index ranking one hundred and sixty countries on their performance on five categories of indicators:

• religious freedom (taking into account both the freedom to practice any religion or none, and the situation of religious control on the state);
• bioethical freedom (including the legal status of abortion, euthanasia and other practices pertaining to bioethics, like surrogacy or stem cell research);
• drugs freedom (including the legal status of cannabis and the country's general policy on hard drugs);
• sexual freedom (including the legal status of pornography and sex services among consenting adults, and the country's age of sexual consent), and
• family and gender freedom (including women's freedom of movement, the legal status of cohabitation of unmarried couples, same sex marriage and the situation of transgender people).

The WIMF's first edition was published on April 2, 2016, co-authored by Foundation researchers Andreas Kohl and Juan Pina. A second edition was published by the same foundation in July, 2018, this time authored by Juan Pina and Emma Watson.

Purpose

The World Index of Moral Freedom aims at completing the views presented by other international freedom indices measuring general freedom or aspects thereof (press freedom, economic freedom, etcetera). To do so, the Index aims at responding a simple question: how free from state-imposed moral constraints are human beings depending on their countries of residence? The research conducted tries to determine the degree of individual freedom to take decisions pertaining to the great moral debates of our time. The first edition of the WIMF includes a short note on the comparison between its country ranking and those of the other freedom indices.

Categories studied and classification of countries

Each category of indicators is worth twenty points (20% of the total score) and aims at responding the following questions:

• Category A. Religious indicators. How free is the practice of any religion or none, and how religious-controlled is the state.
• Category B. Bioethical indicators. How free is individual decision making on matters posing bioethical questions.
• Category C. Drugs indicators. How free is the production, trade and consumption of substances deemed harmful.
• Category D. Sexuality indicators. How free are sexual intercourse, pornography and sex services among consenting adults.
• Category E. Gender & family indicators. How free are women, LGBT individuals and unmarried couples living together.

Each category is made up of various indicators (normally one or two leading indicators adjusted by one or two lesser wheighted ones), the weight of which is set in view of their inferred relevance towards the category's overall score. Countries have been classified towards each category according to the information available in the sources reviewed. All category results and the general index itself are presented in a 0–100 point scale. Countries are classified according to the following intervals:

• 90–100 points – Highest moral freedom
• 80–90 points – Very high moral freedom
• 60–80 points – High moral freedom
• 50–60 points – Acceptable moral freedom
• 40–50 points – Insufficient moral freedom
• 20–40 points – Low moral freedom
• 10–20 points – Very low moral freedom
• 0–10 points – Lowest moral freedom

Findings of the WIMF's first edition

State of moral freedom around the world

Only one country, the Netherlands, is classified as having the "highest" level of moral freedom by scoring slightly over the 90 points required for that label. Just four countries make it into the upper twenty points, and only ten pass the 75 point threshold. Out of the 160 countries considered, only 64 "pass the exam" and score 50 points or more. And around 30% of all countries fall in the "low", "very low" or "lowest" moral freedom areas of the index. Technology and the cultural globalization that it produces are deemed by the authors to be the most powerful driving forces towards acceptance of individual moral freedom.

Netherlands

With a three-point (three per cent) advantage over their closest competitor and eight points over the third, the Netherlands top the 2016 country ranking. The Dutch score is twenty-one points higher than the average of all countries enjoying "high" or "very high" moral freedom. For many decades, whenever moral freedom was discussed, the Netherlands had the least interventionist policies. The first country to fight human trafficking by legalising sex services performed by consenting adults, or to normalize the use of cannabis, or to acknowledge same sex marriage already in 2001, performs remarkably high in most indicators considered towards the index.

Latin countries

A trend may be inferred towards international unification of the legal and political approach to moral issues. And that trend favours the Western world's predominant choice for low moral interference by the state. This is particularly noticeable when looking at the index performance of many Latin European and Latin American countries, which seem to reveal a fast cultural evolution from traditional, conservative values into a laissez-faire approach to morality. Five of the top ten countries are Romance-speaking, while nine other Romance-speaking countries in Europe and the Americas make it to the "high moral freedom" region of the index. The particular performance of countries like Portugal or Uruguay is much higher than their recent history would indicate. These and other Latin countries seem to have discarded their traditional background of religiously influenced governance. Greece, while not a Latin country, shares a Mediterranean heritage with Latin countries and also makes it to the "high moral freedom" region.

Islamic countries and other religious-influenced states

The fifteen lowest scoring countries at the World Index of Moral Freedom are Islamic and located in the Persian Gulf, North-Eastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. This is also true for the region's economically free enclaves in the area. Saudi Arabia comes last (160th) in the ranking and doesn't even score ten points out of the one hundred potentially available. Only four predominantly Islamic countries obtain more than fifty points: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Turkey and Kazakhstan. A few non Islamic countries also show low levels of moral freedom which the authors consider likely to be due to a strong political leverage held by another religion.

Russia

In Russia, moral conservatism, derived from either the Orthodox faith or traditional culture, seems to have replaced Marxism as the basis for an ongoing, though softer, social engineering by the state. Russia's score is just in the middle of the classification, a position shared by some of her cultural and political allies, like Serbia or Moldova, while politically unfree Belarus falls further below. In all of these countries, the freedom of LGBT individuals is a matter of particular concern.

Communist countries

The remaining communist regimes coerce their citizens into abiding by a moral code based on allegedly scientific views. Freedom of conscience and the practice of any religion are repressed. In the case of the People's Republic of China, decades of limited economic liberalization have not resulted in an equally noticeable moral openness. Two other communist regimes, North Korea and Vietnam, fall further down into the low moral freedom area, while moral freedom is deemed insufficient in Laos and just slightly over the fifty point threshold in socialist Venezuela or in outright communist Cuba.

Other findings

For different reasons, often including abnormally low scores in a particular set of indicators, a few Western countries which perform reasonably high in other freedom indices rank rather low at the WIMF. Hungary and Norway fail to make it into the "high moral freedom" area, although just for under half a point. The British and Irish performance is particularly low within the moral freedom area, compared to the Anglo countries of North America and Australasia. Iceland, Japan, Poland and Romania barely manage to pass the fifty point mark, while Singapore, Israel or South Korea fall in the "insufficient moral freedom" part of the index. While most countries topping the WIMF in its first edition belong to the developed world, some countries with a lesser degree of development have also made their way into the higher classification areas. Cambodia, scoring just over seventy points, obtains the fifteenth place in the global classification and is the first developing country in the index. It is also worth noting that the four European micro-states considered −the principalities of Andorra and Monaco and the republics of San Marino and Malta− score surprisingly low in comparison with their bigger neighbours. In spite of their high living standards and economic freedom, these countries fail to perform similarly when it comes to moral freedom. A similar situation is observed in Caribbean and South Pacific island micro-states, which score poorly in most categories and rank in the lower areas of the WIMF classification. This similarity between very small countries in different regions, in spite of the cultural influence of their neighbours and allies, may lead to the conclusion that moral freedom is affected, among other relevant factors, by country size.

WIMF 2020 ranking

RANK	COUNTRY	2020 SCORE	2018 SCORE	VARIATION IN SCORE	2018 RANK	VARIATION IN RANK	RELIGION INDICATORS	BIOETHICAL INDICATORS	DRUGS INDICATORS	SEXUALITY INDICATORS	GENDER INDICATORS	OVERALL MORAL FREEDOM CLASSIFICATION
1	Netherlands, The	95.44	91.33	4.11	1	0	97.13	95.00	97.59	97.50	90.00	HIGHEST
2	Portugal	95.43	86.93	8.50	2	0	97.13	91.88	98.13	100.00	90.00	HIGHEST
3	Canada	91.94	86.58	5.36	3	0	99.57	95.00	94.65	82.50	88.00	HIGHEST
4	Belgium	90.82	78.98	11.84	11	7	98.00	95.00	73.58	97.50	90.00	HIGHEST
5	Uruguay	89.99	84.50	5.49	4	-1	97.13	78.75	88.08	100.00	86.00	VERY HIGH
6	Luxembourg	87.61	72.23	15.38	13	7	97.13	80.00	73.43	97.50	90.00	VERY HIGH
7	Austria	86.06	72.13	13.93	14	7	98.00	68.75	73.53	100.00	90.00	VERY HIGH
8	Spain	86.05	81.60	4.45	7	-1	97.13	68.75	76.89	97.50	90.00	VERY HIGH
9	Mexico	85.14	81.33	3.81	8	-1	95.38	77.50	96.06	87.50	69.25	VERY HIGH
10	Italy	84.61	66.38	18.23	23	13	96.83	68.75	92.49	100.00	65.00	VERY HIGH
11	Germany	84.53	83.03	1.50	6	-5	96.83	75.00	60.85	100.00	90.00	VERY HIGH
12	Denmark	83.39	71.08	12.31	16	4	97.13	88.75	39.06	100.00	92.00	VERY HIGH
13	Switzerland	83.28	80.88	2.40	9	-4	97.13	75.00	77.54	97.50	69.25	VERY HIGH
14	Czech Republic	83.21	83.63	-0.42	5	-9	99.00	67.50	97.05	100.00	52.50	VERY HIGH
15	Australia	82.80	66.48	16.32	22	7	98.41	93.13	72.45	60.00	90.00	VERY HIGH
16	Colombia	81.15	76.15	5.00	12	-4	95.96	48.75	75.06	100.00	86.00	VERY HIGH
17	Argentina	77.82	71.08	6.74	15	-2	95.67	26.88	71.55	100.00	95.00	HIGH
18	Slovenia	76.47	69.63	6.84	18	0	96.13	68.75	56.47	100.00	61.00	HIGH
19	New Zealand	76.45	66.38	10.07	24	5	97.13	60.63	36.99	97.50	90.00	HIGH
20	Norway	76.15	62.50	13.65	33	13	97.13	68.75	42.85	80.00	92.00	HIGH
21	Finland	75.57	65.83	9.74	27	6	96.13	37.50	56.71	97.50	90.00	HIGH
22	France	75.00	68.15	6.85	21	-1	96.83	68.75	36.93	82.50	90.00	HIGH
23	South Africa	74.62	61.33	13.29	35	12	96.25	82.50	88.38	45.00	61.00	HIGH
24	Brazil	74.46	68.93	5.53	20	-4	95.67	30.63	56.03	100.00	90.00	HIGH
25	Greece	74.42	65.88	8.54	26	1	94.25	88.75	38.58	100.00	50.50	HIGH
26	Ireland	74.39	64.05	10.34	31	5	96.13	68.75	38.82	76.25	92.00	HIGH
27	Israel	74.27	50.53	23.74	62	35	92.38	57.50	71.49	100.00	50.00	HIGH
28	United States of America	73.68	79.15	-5.47	10	-18	97.12	88.13	65.18	30.00	88.00	HIGH
29	Croatia	73.04	59.50	13.54	39	10	92.38	62.50	73.82	65.00	71.50	HIGH
30	Chile	72.43	63.28	9.15	32	2	94.25	26.88	71.52	100.00	69.50	HIGH
31	Ecuador	72.37	65.13	7.24	29	-2	95.09	36.25	71.51	100.00	59.00	HIGH
32	Estonia	72.02	69.03	2.99	19	-13	97.41	62.50	37.20	100.00	63.00	HIGH
33	Sweden	71.69	65.95	5.74	25	-8	97.13	68.75	20.09	82.50	90.00	HIGH
34	Malta	70.73	55.33	15.40	44	10	95.13	0.00	73.04	97.50	88.00	HIGH
35	Cyprus	70.34	53.35	16.99	51	16	94.25	87.50	38.71	93.75	37.50	HIGH
36	Georgia	70.00	49.25	20.75	67	31	94.95	87.50	71.07	62.50	34.00	HIGH
37	Hungary	69.27	64.75	4.52	30	-7	93.21	88.75	19.91	100.00	44.50	HIGH
38	United Kingdom	69.20	60.63	8.57	36	-2	96.83	57.50	41.65	60.00	90.00	HIGH
39	Peru	67.47	60.58	6.89	37	-2	94.25	36.25	76.83	100.00	30.00	HIGH
40	Bulgaria	66.80	52.45	14.35	56	16	96.13	62.50	20.63	100.00	54.75	HIGH
41	Iceland	65.99	54.08	11.91	46	5	97.99	62.50	21.95	82.50	65.00	HIGH
42	Macedonia	64.78	53.75	11.03	48	6	96.13	67.50	55.25	75.00	30.00	HIGH
43	Slovakia	64.24	61.95	2.29	34	-9	96.13	67.50	19.58	100.00	38.00	HIGH
44	Poland	64.22	52.70	11.52	54	10	94.25	36.25	54.58	100.00	36.00	HIGH
45	Latvia	63.98	59.25	4.73	40	-5	97.13	67.50	19.76	97.50	38.00	HIGH
46	Bolivia	62.30	65.30	-3.00	28	-18	96.13	36.25	39.13	100.00	40.00	HIGH
47	Jamaica	62.06	53.50	8.56	49	2	96.13	31.25	90.43	62.50	30.00	HIGH
48	Costa Rica	62.03	53.45	8.58	50	2	89.50	31.25	34.39	100.00	55.00	HIGH
49	Serbia	61.43	53.13	8.30	53	4	90.50	62.50	20.16	100.00	34.00	HIGH
50	Honduras	60.84	42.45	18.39	107	57	89.50	15.63	19.07	100.00	80.00	HIGH
51	Bosnia and Herzegovina	60.36	55.25	5.11	45	-6	92.38	67.50	21.41	82.50	38.00	HIGH
52	Lithuania	59.56	52.25	7.31	57	5	97.13	67.50	36.69	62.50	34.00	ACCEPTABLE
53	Moldova	57.74	52.50	5.24	55	2	95.13	62.50	54.59	42.50	34.00	ACCEPTABLE
54	Romania	57.73	56.50	1.23	41	-13	95.25	67.50	20.90	65.00	40.00	ACCEPTABLE
55	Trinidad and Tobago	57.60	45.38	12.22	94	39	96.13	31.25	70.62	65.00	25.00	ACCEPTABLE
56	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	57.20	48.38	8.82	74	18	96.13	31.25	68.61	65.00	25.00	ACCEPTABLE
57	Paraguay	56.38	55.63	0.75	43	-14	94.25	20.63	37.02	100.00	30.00	ACCEPTABLE
58	Montenegro	56.28	59.65	-3.37	38	-20	96.13	62.50	19.76	65.00	38.00	ACCEPTABLE
59	Panama	55.20	51.75	3.45	58	-1	94.25	31.25	16.49	100.00	34.00	ACCEPTABLE
60	Armenia	55.13	49.95	5.18	64	4	92.79	87.50	21.36	40.00	34.00	ACCEPTABLE
61	Albania	54.69	53.13	1.56	52	-9	96.13	62.50	19.85	65.00	30.00	ACCEPTABLE
62	Mongolia	54.40	47.70	6.70	77	15	96.13	62.50	20.85	62.50	30.00	ACCEPTABLE
63	Korea, South	54.38	46.38	8.00	82	19	94.80	73.75	38.37	25.00	40.00	ACCEPTABLE
64	Japan	53.53	50.85	2.68	60	-4	96.25	47.50	23.42	62.50	38.00	ACCEPTABLE
65	San Marino	53.43	49.55	3.88	66	1	96.13	15.63	39.91	65.00	50.50	ACCEPTABLE
66	Mozambique	53.41	49.70	3.71	65	-1	86.75	31.25	21.56	97.50	30.00	ACCEPTABLE
67	Singapore	53.32	45.70	7.62	89	22	74.60	72.50	12.02	77.50	30.00	ACCEPTABLE
68	Kenya	53.19	36.95	16.24	120	52	96.25	36.25	20.97	87.50	25.00	ACCEPTABLE
69	Ukraine	52.88	47.58	5.30	78	9	63.64	87.50	37.78	42.50	33.00	ACCEPTABLE
70	India	51.39	56.35	-4.96	42	-28	63.21	57.50	35.74	67.50	33.00	ACCEPTABLE
71	Senegal	51.15	47.25	3.90	80	9	96.13	15.63	21.48	97.50	25.00	ACCEPTABLE
72	Guinea-Bissau	51.12	45.25	5.87	95	23	95.13	15.63	22.35	97.50	25.00	ACCEPTABLE
73	Andorra	50.96	45.00	5.96	96	23	98.13	15.63	21.54	65.00	54.50	ACCEPTABLE
74	Ghana	50.62	48.63	1.99	72	-2	95.13	31.25	39.22	62.50	25.00	ACCEPTABLE
75	Mali	50.30	39.30	11.00	117	42	78.25	31.25	22.01	100.00	20.00	ACCEPTABLE
76	Tajikistan	50.29	47.50	2.79	79	3	53.00	67.50	16.94	80.00	34.00	ACCEPTABLE
77	Madagascar	49.70	46.33	3.37	83	6	86.75	15.63	21.11	100.00	25.00	INSUFFICIENT
78	Botswana	49.53	39.50	10.03	115	37	98.00	31.25	19.38	70.00	29.00	INSUFFICIENT
79	Kazakhstan	49.22	50.70	-1.48	61	-18	48.19	87.50	16.41	60.00	34.00	INSUFFICIENT
80	Guatemala	48.60	43.83	4.77	100	20	89.50	15.63	20.36	87.50	30.00	INSUFFICIENT
81	Kyrgyzstan	48.52	46.00	2.52	84	3	52.25	62.50	16.34	77.50	34.00	INSUFFICIENT
82	Tunisia	48.35	42.58	5.77	106	24	79.66	62.50	19.58	50.00	30.00	INSUFFICIENT
83	Lebanon	48.20	33.90	14.30	129	46	91.05	15.63	37.84	67.50	29.00	INSUFFICIENT
84	Belarus	47.70	45.70	2.00	88	4	73.15	87.50	17.36	22.50	38.00	INSUFFICIENT
85	Guinea	47.69	49.00	-1.31	69	-16	95.13	31.25	22.08	65.00	25.00	INSUFFICIENT
86	Nepal	47.59	48.83	-1.24	71	-15	81.13	62.50	38.82	22.50	33.00	INSUFFICIENT
87	Bahamas, The	47.52	45.50	2.02	90	3	98.00	31.25	15.87	62.50	30.00	INSUFFICIENT
88	El Salvador	47.38	39.20	8.18	118	30	93.25	0.00	13.65	100.00	30.00	INSUFFICIENT
89	Monaco	46.70	48.95	-2.25	70	-19	60.50	31.25	21.26	82.50	38.00	INSUFFICIENT
90	Saint Lucia	46.64	45.88	0.76	86	-4	96.13	31.25	18.30	62.50	25.00	INSUFFICIENT
91	Malawi	46.47	48.45	-1.98	73	-18	95.38	15.63	38.86	62.50	20.00	INSUFFICIENT
92	Seychelles	46.36	47.88	-1.52	76	-16	94.25	31.25	16.28	65.00	25.00	INSUFFICIENT
93	Liberia	46.33	45.50	0.83	91	-2	96.13	31.25	21.75	52.50	30.00	INSUFFICIENT
94	Nicaragua	46.15	36.33	9.82	122	28	85.75	0.00	17.52	97.50	30.00	INSUFFICIENT
95	Angola	46.09	36.13	9.96	124	29	98.70	15.63	21.11	65.00	30.00	INSUFFICIENT
96	Ivory Coast	45.65	46.70	-1.05	81	-15	91.38	15.63	21.27	70.00	30.00	INSUFFICIENT
97	Russia	45.47	54.00	-8.53	47	-50	46.32	87.50	17.06	42.50	34.00	INSUFFICIENT
98	Venezuela	45.43	50.38	-4.95	63	-35	80.94	20.63	16.08	77.50	32.00	INSUFFICIENT
99	Cambodia	45.38	70.50	-25.12	17	-82	72.72	62.50	36.70	25.00	30.00	INSUFFICIENT
100	Suriname	44.80	45.00	-0.20	97	-3	96.13	15.63	19.76	62.50	30.00	INSUFFICIENT
101	Ethiopia	44.57	34.25	10.32	128	27	78.48	31.25	20.60	67.50	25.00	INSUFFICIENT
102	Guyana	44.12	51.45	-7.33	59	-43	92.38	62.50	18.24	22.50	25.00	INSUFFICIENT
103	Solomon Islands	44.12	45.75	-1.63	87	-16	96.13	15.63	21.33	62.50	25.00	INSUFFICIENT
104	Gambia, The	43.62	45.43	-1.81	92	-12	87.30	31.25	22.04	52.50	25.00	INSUFFICIENT
105	Cuba	43.53	49.00	-5.47	68	-37	49.78	62.50	14.85	57.50	33.00	INSUFFICIENT
106	Tonga	43.40	40.38	3.02	113	7	68.88	15.63	20.01	82.50	30.00	INSUFFICIENT
107	Azerbaijan	42.47	42.30	0.17	108	1	53.10	67.50	15.23	42.50	34.00	INSUFFICIENT
108	Turkey	42.14	48.03	-5.89	75	-33	31.32	62.50	31.39	47.50	38.00	INSUFFICIENT
109	Cameroon	41.60	45.88	-4.28	85	-24	96.13	31.25	20.64	40.00	20.00	INSUFFICIENT
110	Haiti	41.11	43.75	-2.64	101	-9	96.13	15.63	21.30	52.50	20.00	INSUFFICIENT
111	Zimbabwe	40.89	43.70	-2.81	102	-9	82.39	31.25	38.29	22.50	30.00	INSUFFICIENT
112	Mauritius	40.74	45.38	-4.64	93	-19	96.13	15.63	19.46	42.50	30.00	INSUFFICIENT
113	Philippines, The	40.40	39.63	0.77	114	1	79.08	15.63	37.32	45.00	25.00	INSUFFICIENT
114	Dominica	39.48	42.75	-3.27	105	-9	96.13	15.63	18.17	42.50	25.00	LOW
115	Tuvalu	38.77	41.93	-3.16	109	-6	84.88	15.63	20.85	42.50	30.00	LOW
116	Dominican Republic	38.31	40.78	-2.47	112	-4	95.13	0.00	18.95	47.50	30.00	LOW
117	Laos	38.26	44.25	-5.99	98	-19	67.00	31.25	38.05	25.00	30.00	LOW
118	Comoros	38.14	29.25	8.89	131	13	31.13	31.25	18.35	65.00	45.00	LOW
119	Vietnam	37.90	35.38	2.52	126	7	37.66	82.50	16.83	22.50	30.00	LOW
120	Eswatini	37.63	41.50	-3.87	111	-9	85.75	31.25	18.63	22.50	30.00	LOW
121	China	36.86	39.30	-2.44	116	-5	38.08	62.50	20.70	25.00	38.00	LOW
122	Uzbekistan	36.73	43.93	-7.20	99	-23	44.15	62.50	16.50	22.50	38.00	LOW
123	Sri Lanka	36.39	21.90	14.49	144	21	51.38	15.63	38.43	42.50	34.00	LOW
124	Thailand	36.20	29.38	6.82	130	6	50.07	35.63	22.29	45.00	28.00	LOW
125	Equatorial Guinea	35.96	43.13	-7.17	104	-21	89.50	31.25	21.56	12.50	25.00	LOW
126	Korea, North	35.75	34.50	1.25	127	1	37.50	62.50	28.75	25.00	25.00	LOW
127	Nigeria	35.50	27.28	8.22	135	8	48.79	36.25	21.96	52.50	18.00	LOW
128	Papua New Guinea	35.41	43.25	-7.84	103	-25	96.13	15.63	21.57	18.75	25.00	LOW
129	Malaysia	34.53	26.20	8.33	137	8	77.34	31.25	19.05	30.00	15.00	LOW
130	Algeria	34.35	20.25	14.10	149	19	22.75	31.25	20.24	77.50	20.00	LOW
131	Central African Republic	33.50	37.23	-3.73	119	-12	20.88	15.63	18.51	87.50	25.00	LOW
132	Rwanda	32.66	36.20	-3.54	123	-9	59.73	31.25	14.84	32.50	25.00	LOW
133	Uganda	32.34	41.88	-9.54	110	-23	76.05	31.25	16.89	12.50	25.00	LOW
134	Morocco	32.06	26.20	5.86	138	4	38.84	31.25	32.70	32.50	25.00	LOW
135	Bangladesh	31.38	28.53	2.85	134	-1	21.81	15.63	35.47	60.00	24.00	LOW
136	Indonesia	30.61	22.93	7.68	142	6	20.51	31.25	17.27	60.00	24.00	LOW
137	Myanmar	29.79	26.13	3.66	139	2	12.14	15.63	33.69	62.50	25.00	LOW
138	Jordan	29.58	35.88	-6.30	125	-13	29.60	31.25	19.53	62.50	5.00	LOW
139	Eritrea	27.03	26.80	0.23	136	-3	20.13	31.25	11.25	47.50	25.00	LOW
140	Turkmenistan	26.89	36.88	-9.99	121	-19	5.00	67.50	10.47	22.50	29.00	LOW
141	Djibouti	26.73	29.13	-2.40	132	-9	26.50	15.63	14.01	52.50	25.00	LOW
142	Mauritania	24.44	28.73	-4.29	133	-9	12.38	15.63	21.71	52.50	20.00	LOW
143	Egypt	24.42	17.25	7.17	153	10	21.94	15.63	17.01	52.50	15.00	LOW
144	Pakistan	22.20	18.05	4.15	151	7	15.31	31.25	39.43	0.00	25.00	LOW
145	Iraq	21.80	12.63	9.17	157	12	19.00	15.63	16.86	52.50	5.00	LOW
146	Bahrain	21.55	21.25	0.30	146	0	15.00	67.50	15.24	0.00	10.00	LOW
147	Qatar	20.47	15.63	4.84	156	9	31.88	31.25	21.71	12.50	5.00	LOW
148	Maldives	20.28	25.75	-5.47	140	-8	35.13	31.25	15.02	0.00	20.00	LOW
149	Syria	19.78	23.30	-3.52	141	-8	30.45	15.63	17.85	25.00	10.00	VERY LOW
150	Libya	17.98	21.00	-3.02	147	-3	18.21	31.25	20.42	0.00	20.00	VERY LOW
151	Brunei	16.05	19.88	-3.83	150	-1	21.75	15.63	10.40	22.50	10.00	VERY LOW
152	Kuwait	16.02	15.93	0.09	155	3	21.88	31.25	17.00	0.00	10.00	VERY LOW
153	Oman	15.77	20.63	-4.86	148	-5	24.38	31.25	18.21	0.00	5.00	VERY LOW
154	Iran	15.51	17.75	-2.24	152	-2	7.08	20.63	31.84	0.00	18.00	VERY LOW
155	Somalia	15.13	22.25	-7.12	143	-12	16.25	15.63	11.25	12.50	20.00	VERY LOW
156	Sudan	14.79	21.43	-6.64	145	-11	3.48	31.25	14.22	25.00	0.00	VERY LOW
157	Saudi Arabia	12.86	10.13	2.73	160	3	8.53	31.25	4.55	0.00	20.00	VERY LOW
158	United Arab Emirates	12.14	11.50	0.64	158	0	17.90	15.63	17.19	0.00	10.00	VERY LOW
159	Yemen	10.19	11.23	-1.04	159	0	12.38	15.63	17.96	0.00	5.00	VERY LOW
160	Afghanistan	9.59	16.50	-6.91	154	-6	12.38	15.63	9.95	0.00	10.00	LOWEST

Reception

In Portugal and, to a lesser extent, in Spain, many mainstream media and a number of other online media reported on the World Index of Moral Freedom 2016. All in all, just over ninety media carried the story.[2] Generally speaking, reception was positive in Portugal and both positive and negative in Spain. The following are some of the main media carrying the story:

• Expresso (Portugal, mainstream news magazine), "Portugal é o terceiro país com mais liberdade moral do mundo" (Portugal is the third country in the world with the highest moral freedom). Positive reception.[3] A similar news story, as disseminated by news agencies, was also carried by TVI24 television outlet and regional newspapers like Diário de Notícias de Madeira, Açoriano Oriental, Algarve Notícias and others. Some media in other Portuguese speaking countries also reproduced the story, like Bissau Resiste (Guinea Bissau) or Awure news portal (Brazil). The story was published in Tetum language by East Timor news blog Timor Agora.[4]
• Cuatro (Spain, mainstream TV outlet), "España, sexto país del mundo en libertad moral" (Spain, sixth country in the world in terms of moral freedom). Positive reception.[5] A similar story, as disseminated by news agencies, was also reproduced by mainstream newspapers La Vanguardia (Barcelona), El Español (Madrid), El Día (Tenerife) or El Economista (Madrid), to mention but a few. The same story was also carried by major TV outlet Telecinco.
• Actuall (Spain, large catholic online newspaper), "Drogas, prostitución, pornografía… España, a la cabeza mundial en 'corrupción' moral" (Drugs, prostitution, pornography ... Spain is a world leader in moral corruption). Negative reception.[6]
• Diario de Sevilla (Spain, regional newspaper), "Paradójica España" (Paradoxal Spain). Negative mention.[7]
• Radio Inter (Spain, nationwide radio station), news report on the World Index of Moral Freedom, broadcast on April 21, 2016.[8]
• Stiri.com.ro (Romania, news portal), "Indexul Mondial al Libertatii Morale a fost publicat" (World Index of Moral Freedom published).[9]

See also

• List of freedom indices
• Democracy Index
• Index of Economic Freedom
• Index of Freedom in the World
• Press Freedom Index
• Victimless crime

Notes and references

1. World Index of Moral Freedom (WIMF)
2. Media clipping on the launching of the World Index of Moral Freedom 2016
3. Expresso (Portugal, mainstream news magazine)
4. Timor Agora (East Timor, news blog)
5. Cuatro (Spain, mainstream TV outlet)
6. Actuall (Spain, large catholic online newspaper)
7. Diario de Sevilla (Spain, regional newspaper)
8. Radio Inter audio file at Ivoox (in Spanish)
9. Stiri.com.ro (Romania, news portal)

External links

World Index of Moral Freedom 2016 (WIMF) 2016, published by the Foundation for the Advancement of Liberty, Madrid, Spain, on April 2, 2016. Authors: Andreas Kohl and Juan Pina.

World Index of Moral Freedom 2018 (WIMF) 2018, published by the Foundation for the Advancement of Liberty, Madrid, Spain, in July, 2018. Authors: Juan Pina and Emma Watson.

World Index of Moral Freedom 2020 (WIMF) 2020, published by the Foundation for the Advancement of Liberty, Madrid, Spain, in July, 2020. Authors: Gloria Álvarez, Yasuhiro Kotera and Juan Pina.