This chart shows just how oppressive it is to be in North Korea
South Korean soldiers patrol inside the barbed-wire fence near the border village of Panmunjom on April 4, 2013 in Paju, South Korea.
It doesn't take an expert to know North Korea isn't a haven for freedom and open economy, but just how bad would it be? So bad that the latest economic freedoms index by The Heritage Foundation put North Korea dead last with a total score of only 1.5.
It's also one thing to come in last, but North Korea really came in last: there's a 27 point difference between the Hermit Kingdom and the second-to-last Cuba. No other candidates in the list of 177 ranked countries have such a wide point margin.
Hong Kong ranked on top for the 19th consecutive year (89.3 for 2013). Other most free countries were Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland. The Index of Economic Freedom uses categories like freedoms in business, government, labor and likilyhood of corruption to tally up a country's totaly score (see chart below for example). You can explore the full data here.
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