2025 Freedom and Prosperity Indexes: How political freedom drives growth
							
																			By 
																Ignacio Campomanes, Nina Dannaoui-Johnson, Annie (Yu-Lin) Lee, Joseph Lemoine												
		
				
					As the Freedom and Prosperity Indexes show political freedom declining worldwide for the twelfth straight year, new data analysis shows its importance for lasting prosperity: Though authoritarians promise economic rewards, democratizing countries gain an 8.8 percent GDP per capita boost over twenty years than their autocratic peers. With democracy on the ropes, what else can the Indexes tell us?