Countries With the Highest Property Rights

Every country with a figure for property rights, ranked from highest to lowest. The top three are Germany (0.968), Iceland (0.959) and Croatia (0.955). The middle country of the 176 has 0.772.

What this measures

Property rights index, in index (0-1). Source: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg. For this measure, higher is better.

How far people have the right to own, buy, inherit and sell private property, including land, from 0 (virtually no one) to 1 (virtually everyone). It combines V-Dem's expert ratings for men and for women. Limits can come from the law, from the state failing to enforce it, or from custom and religion. It is about the right to property, not how much property people actually own.

The full ranking

Each country’s latest figure, from 2025–2025. The year beside each value says when it was measured.

More on property rights

• Countries With the Lowest Property Rights
• Property rights by country: trend over time and what it goes with

Related rankings

• Countries With the Highest Economic Freedom (Fraser)
• Countries With the Highest Small Government (Fraser)
• Countries With the Highest Sound Money (Fraser)
• Countries With the Highest Freedom to Trade (Fraser)
• Countries With the Highest Light Regulation (Fraser)
• Countries With the Highest Public Social Spending
• Countries With the Highest Family Benefits Spending
• Countries With the Highest Old-age Spending

A ranking describes countries, not the people in them, and a high or low place does not by itself say why. All country rankings.