Economic freedom in Bulgaria ranks 15th among the 27 members of the EU and 36th in the world for 2008, show the results of a Fraser Institute study released Monday.

The Economic Freedom of the World 2010 Annual Report summarizes results for 2008 that show global economic freedom marginally decreasing at the onset of the crisis (from 6,74 out of 10 for 2007 to 6,67 for 2008).

Bulgaria's result is 7.31 for 2008 and has been marking a steady increase since 1990.

The top three EU countries are the UK (7.81), Ireland (7.74) and Estonia (7.73), who are 10th, 11th and 12th in the world, respectively. Italy, Poland (both at 6.90) and Romania (6.58) are at the bottom among EU countries.

The global list is topped by Hong Kong (9.05), Singapore (8.70) and New Zealand (8.27).

Countries are assessed on five areas: Size of Government (Expenditures, Taxes, and Enterprises), Legal Structure & Security of Property Rights, Access to Sound Money, Freedom to Trade Internationally, and Regulation of Credit, Labor, and Business

Among the five criteria, Bulgaria has by far the worst result in Legal Structure & Security of Rights at 5.21, which leaves it at 85th place globally.

The relatively best indicator is the 7.62 for Freedom to Trade Internationally, which places the country 23th globally.

The Size of Government (7.46, 31th) and Regulation (7.54, 36th) indices are also good. Although Bulgaria's score in the Sound Money area is high absolutely speaking (8.74), it leaves the country at the 52th place globally.

The Fraser Institute Economic Freedom Report is announced in Bulgaria by the Institute for Market Economics, which is the Bulgarian partner of the global Economic Freedom Network. Representatives of the Institute commented that the increase in economic freedom in the country has been slowed down by the economic crisis and corresponding government measures and reiterated their calls for less involvement of the state and state spending, strengthening the rule of law and stable public finance.

On the other hand, the Fraser Institute report attributes growth in the economic freedom index for Bulgaria to state investment and the condition of state enterprises.