Sri Lanka has been ranked among the biggest gainers in the world in the '2011 Index of Economic Freedom' conducted by The Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation, Washington's pre-eminent think tank.

Sri Lanka is ranked 19th out of 41 countries in the Asia–Pacific region, and its score improvement is one of the 10 largest in the 2011 Index, the report said.

‘Sri Lanka’s economic freedom score is 57.1, making its economy the 107th freest in the 2011 Index. Its score is 2.5 points higher than last year, reflecting major gains in trade, monetary, and investment freedom.’

Inflation has been high but declining, averaging 9.2 percent between 2007 and 2009. The government influences prices through regulations, state-owned enterprises, and subsidies for a wide array of goods, the report said.

The 2011 Index of Economic Freedom Covers 183 countries across 10 specific freedoms such as Business Freedom, Trade Freedom, Fiscal Freedom, Government Spending, Monetary Freedom, Investment Freedom, Financial Freedom, Property Rights, Freedom from Corruption and Labor Freedom.

Along with Hong Kong and Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, and Canada have solidified their status as the world’s “free” economies.