South Korea's level of economic freedom fell seven notches in 2013 from a year earlier, a report showed Tuesday, pointing to the need for more drastic reforms to prop up the country's economic growth.

The economic freedom index for South Korea stood at 7.38 out of a possible 10 points to rank at 39th place in 2013, down from 32nd place a year earlier, according to this year's report of the Economic Freedom of the World,

The annual report, published by a group of 91 institutions and think tanks around the world, ranks 157 nations worldwide according to five categories -- government size, legal system and property rights, sound money, freedom to trade internationally, and regulations.

The latest report was compiled via the most recent available data, which are from 2013.

Hong Kong received the highest rating for economic freedom in the 2015 report, followed by Singapore, New Zealand and Switzerland.

South Korea's index has been trending lower since 2010, having slipped to 32nd place in 2012 from 30th in 2010, according to the report.

By category, South Korea's indexes for government size and sound money, or its financial stability and currency fluctuation levels, were higher compared to the previous year.

Those for property rights and legal systems, freedom of international trade and regulations, on the other hand, fell from a year earlier, according to the report.

"South Korea will push for more drastic reforms to heighten its level of economic freedom and to help recover economic growth," said an official from the Center for Free Enterprise, a local think tank that took part in compiling the report. (Yonhap)