Bulgaria has moved up to the 60th position in the 2011 Economic Freedom Index compiled by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal.

The Balkan country is one place behind Panama and one ahead of Kuwait. Romania is ranked 63rd.

Bulgaria's overall economic freedom score is 64.9, ranking it 60th freest in the 2011 Index. It indicates a 2.6 points increase, reflecting gains in seven of the 10 economic freedom categories. Bulgaria is ranked 26th out of 43 countries in the Europe region, and its overall score is above the world average but below the regional average.

According to the report, Bulgaria has implemented substantial economic reforms over the past decade. While maintaining macroeconomic stability, it has made considerable progress in income growth and poverty reduction, and has weathered the impact of the global economic downturn relatively well, with the economy supported by generally prudent fiscal policy and sound public debt management.

The full report on Bulgari can be read HERE.

A joint project of The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal, the Index of Economic Freedom ranks countries on a 1-100 scale according to 10 categories that evaluate economic openness, competitiveness and the rule of law. The 10 scores then are averaged to produce an overall score for each country.

The overall list is topped by Hong Kong (1st), Singapore (2nd), Australia (3rd), New Zealand (4th) and Switzerland (5th)

The least free economies are Venezuela (175th), Eritrea (176th), Cuba (177th), Zimbabwe (178th),North Korea (179th)