"We will continue to strive to preserve fervently those strong aspects of our economic freedom, while enhancing those other aspects where there is room for further improvement," Tang said.

He said the HKSAR government would continue to follow the principle of "market leads, government facilitates" and provide a business-friendly environment for all firms to compete on a level-playing field while maintaining an appropriate regulatory regime to ensure the integrity and smooth functioning of a free market.

"The government is firmly committed to maintaining Hong Kong as a free market economy that accords maximum scope to the private sector," Tang said.

The study covered a total of 157 economies worldwide and measured how well they scored on a list of 50 independent variables grouped into 10 broad factors of economic freedom. Hong Kong was ranked first in six out of these 10 broad factors with an improved overall score when compared with that of the previous year.

According to the foundation, Hong Kong and Singapore finished first and second in the rankings for the 12th straight year. The other economies in the top 10 of the most free economies are Ireland, Luxembourg, Iceland, the UK, Estonia, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand and the US.