The economic institute ranks countries by reliability and freedom of the business environment, rating the extent to which political institutions support economic freedom.
On a scale of up to 10, Croatia in 2003 reached 6.0, returning to the 2001 level, while in 2002 it recorded a slight fall to 5.9. In 2003, Croatia's ranking among the 127 countries rated was 86, falling from the 83rd place in 2002 and the 80th place in 2001.
Regarding the other European Union accession candidates, Bulgaria ranked 70th in 2003, with the economic freedom score of 6.3, Romania ranked 96th, with a score of 5.7, and Turkey 88th, with a score of 5.9.
The average economic freedom score rose from 5.2 in 1985 to 6.4 in 2003.