Hong Kong (89.7) and Singapore (87.2) have topped a table of states offering the greatest level of economic freedom.

The list from The Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal also features Australia and New Zealand in third and fourth place, which could be good news for those seeking employment in such countries.

According to the organizations, "economic freedom advanced in 2010", despite fiscal challenges caused by the downturn, with the average score for countries rising from 59.4 in 2009 to 59.7 last year.

It marks the 17th consecutive year Hong Kong and Singapore have taken the top spots, while the highest ranking European nation was Switzerland at five.

Canada stood at number six, three places ahead of the US after the latter saw its score fall by 0.2 percentage points to 77.8 to take it to nine behind Ireland and Denmark.

Following declines in 2008 and 2009, the index returned to growth in 2010 and now features 183 countries, more than half of which improved their scores over the past 12 months.

A public policy research institute, The Heritage Foundation was founded in 1973 and bases the annual economic freedom index on ten areas, including fiscal policy, business, trade and government spending.

Posted by Lee Thrace