Freedom Rings in Places You Might Not Expect

As Americans get ready to celebrate 242 years of independence next week, nearly nine in 10 of them are satisfied with the freedom they have to choose what they do with their lives. But while most Americans are happy with their freedom, how do most people outside the United States feel about theirs?

The short answer is -- pretty good.

Every year, Gallup asks people in more than 140 countries a simple question: "In your country, are you satisfied with your freedom to choose what you do with your life?"

On average, 80% of people worldwide reported in 2017 that they were satisfied with their freedom -- the highest percentage to date in Gallup's global tracking over more than 10 years. In fact, this percentage dropped below a majority in just seven countries last year.

The upward trend is largely attributable to at- or near-record-level satisfaction in the world's most populous countries -- China, India, the United States, Indonesia and Pakistan. For example, 85% in China are satisfied with their personal freedom, which is up from 76% the last time Gallup asked the question in 2013. In India, a record-level 86% are satisfied, up six percentage points from the previous year.

China's and India's levels of satisfaction are both above the global average -- but they aren't the highest. The top of the list includes some of the wealthiest, most developed nations in the world, but also a few that typically that don't score well on global freedom rankings, including historically repressive regimes such as Uzbekistan. The appearance at the top of the list of countries not usually associated with freedom could reflect social desirability to answer this question positively, as well as fear on the part of respondents about how a negative answer might be interpreted.

	Most satisfied		Least satisfied
	Uzbekistan	97%	Bosnia and Herzegovina	53%
	Cambodia	96%	Moldova	52%
	Denmark	96%	South Korea	52%
	Finland	96%	Mauritania	49%
	Norway	95%	Haiti	48%
	United Arab Emirates	95%	Tunisia	46%
	Canada	94%	South Sudan	44%
	Iceland	94%	Algeria	42%
	New Zealand	94%	Greece	42%
	Costa Rica	93%	Afghanistan	41%
	Sweden	93%
Gallup World Poll, 2017

The countries with the fewest people expressing satisfaction with the freedom in their lives are war-torn countries like South Sudan and Afghanistan. Poor economic conditions in countries such as Haiti or Greece probably explain their respective standings; in fact, before the economic collapse in Greece, 70% were satisfied.

Land of the Free?

Although the U.S. has been known as the leader of the free world, it does not make the top of the list -- and Americans were in a very different place ahead of the last election. In 2016, the U.S. tied the previous low, with 75% of people satisfied with the freedom they have to choose what they do with their lives. The decline saw the U.S. fall from 11^th in the world to the bottom half. Over the past year, however, the U.S. has almost perfectly rebounded -- moving back to 87% of Americans feeling satisfied with their freedom.

Some of the rebound might be related to economics. Recent improvements in the stock market -- and even the possibility of higher paychecks -- might be influencing how people feel about their overall freedom.

Another potential driver could be the election of Republican President Donald Trump. Indicators like economic confidence are highly driven by politics in the U.S. -- meaning when a Republican is in office, Democrats are less like to think the economy is going well and vice versa. Gallup does not collect political affiliation in its global surveys, so we are unable to test whether this is the case. However, we did see that Americans who disapproved of the leadership of the U.S. in 2016 were less likely to say they were satisfied with their freedoms (67%) than those who approved (90%).

How people perceive their own freedom will be different. Globally, people may see their freedom through economics first before anything else. This highly aligns with Gallup's previous research on the Coming Jobs War, which found that "what the whole world wants is a good job."

Americans celebrate their country's freedom next week. With much of the world unable to experience the same freedoms that Americans enjoy, it is remarkable that so many are still able to celebrate freedom on their own terms.

	Satisfied
	%
Uzbekistan	97
Cambodia	96
Denmark	96
Finland	96
Norway	95
United Arab Emirates	95
Canada	94
Iceland	94
New Zealand	94
Costa Rica	93
Sweden	93
Malta	92
Netherlands	92
Philippines	92
Singapore	92
Slovenia	92
Mauritius	91
Nicaragua	91
Australia	90
Guatemala	90
Ireland	90
Portugal	90
Rwanda	90
Switzerland	90
Bahrain	89
Luxembourg	89
Thailand	89
Uruguay	89
Honduras	88
Kuwait	88
Myanmar	88
Panama	88
Paraguay	88
Austria	87
Ecuador	87
U.S.	87
Bangladesh	86
Bolivia	86
India	86
Belgium	85
China	85
Dominican Republic	85
Indonesia	85
Kenya	85
Kosovo	85
Malawi	85
Mexico	85
Jamaica	84
Kyrgyzstan	84
Trinidad and Tobago	84
Colombia	83
France	83
Germany	83
Hong Kong	83
Nepal	83
Argentina	82
Nigeria	82
Botswana	81
Estonia	81
Mozambique	81
Poland	81
Saudi Arabia	81
United Kingdom	81
Lao People's Democratic Republic	80
Namibia	80
Peru	80
Romania	80
Tanzania	80
Zambia	80
Czech Republic	79
Morocco	79
Sri Lanka	79
Chile	78
Cyprus	78
South Africa	78
Tajikistan	78
Gambia	77
Ghana	77
Japan	77
Libya	77
Brazil	76
Jordan	76
Cameroon	75
El Salvador	75
Georgia	75
Israel	75
Spain	75
Uganda	75
Zimbabwe	75
Albania	74
Lesotho	74
Taiwan	74
Liberia	73
Macedonia	73
Guinea	72
Mali	72
Ivory Coast	71
Ethiopia	71
Congo (Brazzaville)	70
Croatia	70
Kazakhstan	70
Pakistan	70
Sierra Leone	70
Benin	69
Russia	69
Togo	69
Turkmenistan	69
Azerbaijan	68
Congo (Kinshasa)	68
Lithuania	68
Iran	67
Senegal	67
Slovakia	67
Bulgaria	66
Mongolia	65
Serbia	65
Central African Republic	64
Hungary	64
Latvia	64
Niger	64
Gabon	63
Italy	63
Palestinian Territories	63
Turkey	63
Venezuela	63
Iraq	61
Montenegro	61
Armenia	60
Chad	60
Lebanon	60
Belarus	58
Burkina Faso	58
Madagascar	57
Egypt	56
Yemen	56
Ukraine	54
Bosnia and Herzegovina	53
Moldova	52
South Korea	52
Mauritania	49
Haiti	48
Tunisia	46
South Sudan	44
Algeria	42
Greece	42
Afghanistan	41
Gallup World Poll, 2017