South Korea has been ranked 35th out of 179 nations in an annual economic freedom index.

The Wall Street Journal and the Washington-based Heritage Foundation think tank released the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom on Wednesday.

In this year’s Index, Hong Kong ranked first, followed by Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland and Canada.

South Korea ranked 35th, down four notches from last year, while North Korea ranked last at 179th.

The index includes evaluations of freedom in ten categories, including fiscal freedom and trade freedom.