The Heritage Foundation published the Index of Economic Freedoms for 2021, based on data for the second half of 2019 and the first half of 2020, and data on the average budget deficit for the previous three years.

Montenegro’s economic freedom score is 63.4, making its economy the 80th freest in the 2021 Index. Its overall score has increased by 1.9 points, primarily because of an improvement in fiscal health. Montenegro is ranked 39th among 45 countries in the Europe region, and its overall score is below the regional average but above the world average.

The economy of Montenegro climbed in the ranks of the moderately free this year. High government spending and debt levels, which hamper the realization of greater economic freedom, would be alleviated by improved public-sector finance.

Heritage measures economic freedom based on 12 quantitative and qualitative factors, grouped into four broad categories, or pillars, of economic freedom: Rule of Law (property rights, government integrity, judicial effectiveness); Government Size (government spending, tax burden, fiscal health); Regulatory Efficiency (business freedom, labor freedom, monetary freedom); Open Markets (trade freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom).

Each of the twelve economic freedoms within these categories is graded on a scale of 0 to 100. A country’s overall score is derived by averaging these twelve economic freedoms, with equal weight being given to each.