New Zealand's is a market economy greatly dependent on international trade, although within the last decade New Zealand has become progressively less dependent on exports and has seen its per capita income rise. Trading partners include Australia, the European Union, the United States, China and Japan. Economic free-market reforms of the last decades have removed many barriers to foreign investment, and New Zealand is now perceived as being one of the most business-friendly countries in the world. The New Zealand Dollar is one of the eight base currencies and is widely traded in the forex market.