Switzerland has a stable, prosperous and high-tech economy. It has the highest European rating in the Index of Economic Freedom 2010, while also providing large coverage through public services. The nominal per capita GDP is higher than those of the larger Western and Central European economies and Japan (and indeed one of the highest in the world). The Swiss franc remains one of the world's strongest currencies with the lowest inflation rate (rising to an estimated 0.7% for 2011). In fact, Switzerland holds the record as being the country with the lowest rate of inflation for both the 19th and 20th century (i.e. when viewed from both a short and long-run perspective): since 1880 Swiss annual inflation has on average been a mere 2.2%, to be compared to 2.6% in the United States which is th