The Liberale Institut der Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit recently presented the new edition of a study entitled “Economic freedom in Germany“. In this study which is based on the international “Economic Freedom of the World” comparative study the authors measure the extent of economic freedom enjoyed by German citizens. Criteria are among others the economic activity of the government, the tax burden and the extent of state intervention on the market.
Most economic freedom is still found in Bavaria followed by Baden-Württemberg and Schleswig-Holstein. Hesse and Bremen improved their respective rankings and are now in 5th and 12th position respectively. Lower Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania lost ground and currently rank 6th and 13th. At the bottom of the league is still Berlin with the respective index once again falling significantly from 4.8 to 4.1. The mean value of all federal states combined fell from 6.2 to 6.0 while it remained unchanged in West Germany and fell in the East.
The complete study with many details and charts is available for free-of-charge download. 