Washington: India fared better than China and Russia in a ranking of economic freedom by the influential think tank Cato Institute, whose list showed some of the most successful economies of the world faring poorly.

The Institute's listing of economic freedom showed India at 68th position, while China is at the 90th and Russia at 114th.

Hong Kong retained the highest rating for economic freedom (8.7 out of 10), followed closely by Singapore (8.6 out of 10), while Japan and Italy shared the 36th position and France was on 44th.

The United States tied for third place (8.2 out of 10) with New Zealand, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Australia, Canada, Ireland, and Luxembourg round out the top 10. Most of the lowest-ranking nations are African, Latin American, or former communist States. The bottom five nations are Venezuela, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, and Myanmar.

Nations in the top five of economic freedom have an average per capita income of $26,100, compared to $2,800 for nations in the bottom fifth.

The report finds that economic freedom benefits the lives of all people, but most importantly, the poor. In nations in the top fifth of economic freedom, the average income of the poorest 10 percent of the population was $6, 877, compared to just $823 in the least free nations.