Ireland is the fifth "freest" economy in the world, according to a survey published by a US economic think tank.
The latest Economic Freedom Index compiled by the Heritage Foundation ranked countries on factors such as the government's intervention in the economy, the fiscal burden of government, property rights and regulation.
Hong Kong has retained its position as the world's freest economy for the ninth consecutive year, albeit by a smaller margin over its main competitor for the title, Singapore.
"The findings of this study are straightforward: The countries with the most economic freedom enjoy higher rates of long-term economic growth and prosper more than those with less economic freedom," the conservative-leaning foundation stated.
The United States was ranked joint sixth, along with Denmark and Estonia.
North Korea, Cuba and Zimbabwe, Laos and Libya were the five "least-free" countries in the world, the foundation reported on its 156-country list.
Iraq was among five countries removed from the Index of Economic Freedom, due to its failure to provide any meaningful statistics about its economy, the foundation said in its annual survey.