The International Liberty Institute (ILI) has presented an updated Common Sense Economics Index 2026, a ranking that assesses the quality of governments’ economic policies and the adequacy of their decisions in terms of basic development axioms. At the end of this year, Ukraine scored 24 points, dropped from 89th to 95th place and remained in the fourth group of countries.
“Common Sense Economics Index-unique for Ukraine development, which allows to assess a kind of” economic IQ “of the state administration. By government in this case we mean not only the Cabinet of Ministers, but the entire decision-making circuit, which can include the central and local authorities, legislators, the executive vertical, politicians, deputies and policy-makers, that is, all those who really influence the country’s economic policy,” said Mikhail Kamchatny, director of the International Freedom Institute, at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday.
A total of 144 countries were included in the 2026 index, which was structured into 5 groups based on final scores. Ukraine received 581 points, worsening the result by 24 points compared to the previous year. In the final ranking it was between Rwanda and Gambia. At the presentation itself, this was labelled as a “diagnosis” of economic policy: the country is in group four – the group of “rare manifestations of reason”, i.e. the zone where individual decisions may be rational, but the systemic quality of policy remains weak.
“For Ukraine this index is first of all a diagnosis, because we are on the 95th place out of 144 countries, in the group with rare manifestations of reason in economic policy, and this is a signal that the economy should be taken much more seriously even in times of war. If we want to be competitive with the countries of Central and Western Europe, to attract capital, investments and jobs, we should not reinforce erroneous tax and regulatory decisions, but make institutions more attractive and consistently change economic policy,” emphasised Yaroslav Romanchuk, President of the International Liberty Institute.
In the presentation, ILI representatives emphasised that the Common Sense Economy Index is an aggregate index based on 15 axioms (e.g. that it is better to be free than not free; rich than poor; healthy than sick) and six international indices that cover key parameters of state development. Among them are human freedom, economic freedom, protection of property rights, rule of law, prosperity and innovativeness. Business climate, competition, quality of public administration, social protection, environment and infrastructure were also mentioned separately in the presentation as components of the evaluation logic.
The speakers also explained the technical principle, according to which a lower number of points means a better result, and the range of the model is from a conditionally ideal 6 points to 902 points (the worst positions in all indicators). All countries are then divided into five groups, from “smart governments” to the group with the worst results.
The new leader of the ranking is Switzerland, which ILI calls an example of a government oriented towards science, facts and qualitative assessment of the country’s potential. Also in the top three is Ireland, which moved up 5 positions at once. Finland, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Sweden worsened their positions in the top 10, while Luxembourg and Australia improved their results. The USA and Germany, according to ili, retained their places.
During the presentation, the speakers also focused on Switzerland, Denmark and Ireland as examples of states where high positions in the index correlate with quality of life, institutional stability and long-term economic growth.
In his speech, Yaroslav Romanchuk stressed that Ukraine needs not only a focus on security and defence capability, but also a framework of “common sense economics” that would not contradict the task of development even in times of war. He explicitly linked this to competition for capital, participation in value chains and the creation of conditions in which Ukrainians would be motivated to work and develop business in Ukraine.
Among the problematic points, the presentation also mentioned Ukraine’s low positions in certain international indicators – in particular, in the index of human freedom and economic freedom, while in the protection of property rights the position was assessed as relatively better (within the first hundred). At the same time, the speakers drew attention to the weak parameters of the quality of public administration and regulatory policy.
During the presentation, the speakers also mentioned Estonia and the Czech Republic – post-socialist countries, which were included in the first group, as important benchmarks for Ukraine. Their experience was presented as an example of a long, consistent course towards liberalisation, competitive institutions and integration into European production chains.