Financial Tribune- Iran�s economic freedom index grew 7 points compared to last year and reached the overall score of 50.5, reported the Heritage Foundation in its recently published 2017 Index of Economic Freedom.

The positive change in overall score has improved the country�s world ranking to 155th among the 186 countries cited in the index.

The index, according to the foundation�s website, is measured based on 12 quantitative and qualitative factors, grouped into four broad categories of rule of law, government size, regulatory efficiency and open markets graded on a scale of 0 to 100.

A country�s overall score is derived by averaging these 10 economic freedoms. The Heritage Foundation is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C.

Hong Kong has once again beaten key rival Singapore to become the world�s freest economy by scoring 89.8�while North Korea was rated the least free economy, with only 4.9 points.