The results of the 2013 Index reinforce the conclusion that advancing economic freedom in the areas of rule of law, limited government, regulatory efficiency, and open markets is the most effective way to generate broad-based economic dynamism, creating more opportunities for people to work, higher levels of productivity, and gains from market opening and trade that elevate prosperity and reduce human poverty. This multidimensional relationship between economic freedom and true human progress has been empirically documented in the Index over the past 19 years, and other similar studies have confirmed its findings.
The most basic benefit of economic freedom, confirmed now with data covering 19 years, is the strong relationship between economic freedom and levels of per capita income. For countries that achieve scores that reflect even moderate levels of economic freedom (60 or above), the relationship between economic freedom and per capita GDP is highly significant. Countries moving up the economic freedom scale show increasingly high levels of average income.

The Heritage Foundation 2013