Georgia’s prosperity indicators have improved, while its freedom score has declined, the Atlantic Council’s Freedom and Prosperity Index 2026 shows. The country ranks 43rd in prosperity and 73rd in freedom among 171 countries assessed in the report.
The index, which reflects conditions in 2025, assesses countries based on freedom and prosperity indicators between 1995 and 2025. It uses a 0-100 scoring system, with higher scores indicating better performance.
Georgia received 66.6 points in the freedom ranking. The country’s highest score in this category was recorded in 2018, when it reached 76 points.
In the prosperity ranking, Georgia scored 78.2 points and ranked 43rd among 171 countries. The report says Georgia’s prosperity score has generally increased over time, though at different rates.
The Atlantic Council classifies Georgia among countries with declining freedom dynamics, alongside states including the United States, Ecuador, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Haiti.
Georgia’s lowest scores were recorded in clarity of law (43.6 points), independence and effectiveness of courts (53), property rights (54.1), legislative limits on executive power (57.7), bureaucracy and corruption (57.9), and security (58.9).
The freedom index is based on three main areas: political freedom, economic freedom and legal freedom. The prosperity index measures income, healthcare, income equality, environment, opportunities for minorities and education.
Globally, Denmark, Australia and Estonia ranked among the freest countries, while Afghanistan, Eritrea and Iran were among the least free.
The countries with the highest prosperity scores were Norway, Denmark and Iceland, while the lowest-ranked countries included the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Haiti.
During a discussion marking the publication of the index, Atlantic Council senior researcher Colin Buckley spoke about Ukraine’s reconstruction prospects and said investors would need a strong rule of law framework before committing significant private capital.
Buckley, who headed the Millennium Challenge Corporation office in Georgia from 2005 to 2009, also discussed Georgia’s reform experience.
“In 2005, Georgia was the most prominent candidate to support the theory that reforms can bring long-term economic growth,” Buckley said, noting that Georgia had ranked highly in the World Bank’s Doing Business rankings and experienced economic growth.
He added that after a change of government, the focus on reforms weakened.
“While Georgia focused on individual trade freedoms and aspects of investor-friendly legislation, it overlooked broader political freedom and perhaps aspects of economic freedom that have more domestic effects,” Buckley said.
The Atlantic Council’s index shows that China ranked 147th and Russia 154th in the freedom index, placing both among countries with the lowest levels of freedom. China was classified as having low prosperity, while Russia was placed in the moderate prosperity category.
