Bulgaria Ranks 42nd in Human Freedom Index

Bulgaria has been placed 42nd in the latest index of human freedom, released Tuesday by the Fraser Institute.

The Balkan country’s Freedom Index is 7.60, which places it one spot below Lithuania and one ahead of Slovenia.

New Zealand leads the world in human freedom, followed by the Netherlands then Hong Kong with the United States and Denmark tied for seventh.

The index is contained in a new book, Towards a Worldwide Index of Human Freedom, which examines the characteristics of "freedom" and how it can best be measured and compared between different nations.

The index includes economic freedom and is based on the "negative" definition of freedom – in other words, the absence of barriers or coercion that prevent individuals from acting as they might wish.