Macedonia ranks 43. out of 177 countries in the 2013 Index of Economic Freedom, annually compiled by The Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation. Macedonia is ranked 21st out of 43 countries in the Europe region, and its overall score is above the world and regional averages.

According to the index, Macedonia belongs to the "Moderately Free" group of economies.

In regional terms, Albania is 58., followed by Bulgaria (60), Turkey (69), Montenegro (70), Slovenia (76), Croatia (78), Serbia (94), Bosnia-Herzegovina (103), and Greece (117).

Macedonia’s economic freedom score is 68.2, making its economy the 43rd freest in the 2013 Index. Its overall score has decreased by 0.3 point from last year, with modest declines in monetary freedom, freedom from corruption, and labor freedom outweighing small improvements in the control of government spending and trade freedom.

"Macedonia's transition to a more open and flexible economic system has been facilitated by substantial restructuring measures over the past decade. While maintaining macroeconomic stability, it has made considerable progress in income growth and poverty reduction. Competitive flat tax rates and a permissive trade regime, supported by a relatively efficient regulatory framework, have encouraged the development of a growing entrepreneurial sector", read the country's findings.

Implementation of deeper institutional reforms is critical to strengthening the foundations of economic freedom and inducing more dynamic long-term economic expansion. Systemic weaknesses persist in the protection of property rights and enforcement of anti-corruption measures. The judicial system is weak, undercut by lingering corruption, and vulnerable to political influence.

Hong Kong tops the rankings for the 19. year running, followed by Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland. The top ten also includes Canada, Chile, Mauritius, Denmark and the United States. China is ranked 136., Russia 139., whereas Zimbabwe, Cuba and Norther Korea take the bottom.

Ten components of economic freedom are measured, assigning a grade in each using a scale from 0 to 100, where 100 represents the maximum freedom. The 10 economic freedoms are grouped into four broad categories or pillars of economic freedom: Rule of Law (property rights, freedom from corruption); Limited Government (fiscal freedom, government spending); Regulatory Efficiency (business freedom, labor freedom, monetary freedom); and Open Markets (trade freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom).