The index is not a market mover, but it supports the case that wealth flows toward jurisdictions with strong property rights and open capital markets, which favours established hubs such as Switzerland, Singapore and Hong Kong. The finding that capital markets and banking are the weakest pillars globally points to underdeveloped financial systems as a persistent constraint on investment in many economies. Western Europe’s decline, alongside the exit of the UK, Ireland, Finland and the Netherlands from the top ten, adds to the narrative of a region losing competitiveness for mobile capital. Investors may read the widening regional divergence as reinforcing a preference for Central Asian and selected emerging markets over parts of Latin America.---The world’s most capitalist economies look a lot like its favourite places to park private wealth, while the system as a whole has been quietly losing ground for 16 years.Summary:Switzerland ranks first in the University of Virginia’s new Global Capitalism Index, followed by the US, Hong Kong, Canada and Singapore; Angola ranks last of 161 countriesLuxembourg, Denmark, Australia, Sweden and Norway complete the 2025 top tenFour of the top six are major cross-border wealth management centresSingapore led when the series began in 2009; the UK, Ireland, Finland and the Netherlands have since left the top tenThe index shows a gradual global decline in capitalist conditions, with Central Asia improving and Latin America and Western Europe weakeningProperty rights most separate high and low scorers, while capital markets and banking are the weakest pillars everywhereSwitzerland is the world’s most capitalist economy, according to a new Global Capitalism Index published by the University of Virginia, with the United States in second place followed by Hong Kong, Canada and Singapore. The index scores 161 countries on a scale of one to 100 and places Angola at the bottom. Luxembourg, Denmark, Australia, Sweden and Norway complete the top ten in the 2025 rankings.One feature of the leading group is its concentration of financial centres. Four of the top six, namely Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore and Luxembourg, are among the main international hubs for cross-border wealth management, suggesting that the conditions the index rewards overlap closely with those that attract private capital.The rankings have moved significantly since the data series began in 2009, when Singapore led and Hong Kong was second. The UK, Ireland, Finland and the Netherlands all featured in the top ten that year but have since dropped out. Across the full data set, the researchers found a gradual weakening of capitalist conditions worldwide over 16 years, alongside widening regional divergence. Central Asia has improved, while Latin America and Western Europe have declined. Sierra Leone and Venezuela recorded the steepest falls, down around 24 and 23 points respectively, while Zimbabwe and Algeria were among the most improved.Capital markets and banking were the weakest areas across all countries, while property rights proved the factor that most clearly separates high scorers from low scorers.The researchers also group countries into four archetypes. Entrepreneurial economies, led by Switzerland, Hong Kong and the US, are strong in new business formation and market policy but weaker on property rights and capital flows. Corporate economies such as Japan and South Korea perform well on capital markets and banking but poorly on competition, labour market freedom and business creation. Institutional economies, led by Norway and Western Europe, are strong in the real economy but weak in banking and capital markets, while commercial economies, including Singapore and France, are defined by free capital flows and property rights.The index will be updated annually, allowing the shifts between regions and archetypes to be tracked over time. ---Sidebar: about the index and its authorsThe Global Capitalism Index was produced by the University of Virginia, the public research university in Charlottesville founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819. The project was led jointly by the Democracy and Capitalism Lab at the university’s Karsh Institute of Democracy and the Institute for Business in Society at its Darden School of Business. The index draws on 242 data sets across 33 domains, grouped into eight subindices covering areas including property rights, market competition, labour market openness, banking system strength and the free movement of goods and capital. Rather than applying subjective weightings, the researchers weighted the data statistically using principal components analysis, a technique that lets the data determine how much each factor counts. The series runs from 2009, and the researchers plan to update it each year.China missed out ... perhaps that points to a deficiency in the assessment, This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.