In a photo taken on July 28, 2017 North Korean visitors watch as a Korean People's Army (KPA) guide gestures before a display aboard the USS Pueblo at the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum in Pyongyang. AFP-Yonhap

North Korea is the world's least free country in terms of economic freedom for its people and businesses, an annual report from a U.S. think tank showed Thursday.

The North ranked 178th or last in terms of economic freedom, according to the report, the 2021 Index of Economic Freedom by the Washington-based Heritage Foundation.

"The world's least economically free nation remains North Korea, followed closely by the failed socialist nations of Venezuela and Cuba," it said, without clarifying how long North Korea has stayed at the bottom of the list.

Out of possible 100, North Korea scored 5.2 in this year's index, up 1 point from a year earlier.

Venezuela was ranked No. 177 with 24.7 points.