Global talent competitiveness, explained
Which countries compete best for talent, and how do we know?
Talent rankings get quoted everywhere and read closely almost nowhere. Here you can see what each edition measured, who led and what changed, with the edition year and source beside every number.
GTCI 2025, 135 countries ranked
Singapore led the 2025 ranking by 0.15 points, and ten countries fit inside 4.02.
Sections
15 pages so far3 pages
How the index works
Start here before you quote a ranking. These pages explain what the index counts, how a country score is assembled and what the numbers can and cannot tell you.
6 pages
Rankings by edition
Results pages for the 2017, 2021, 2023 and 2025 editions, a table of every edition with its theme and top three, and the story of who led the index. A rank only means something next to its year and the number of countries ranked.
2 pages
Talent and technology
Technology reshapes which skills count. These pages compare the automation studies and set the 2017 theme, talent and technology, against what the evidence shows now.
2 pages
Skills and mobility
Talent is attracted, matched and kept. These pages cover who moves across borders and the gap between the skills people have and the jobs on offer.
2 pages
Policy and work
Rules and institutions decide whether talent stays and grows. This section reads the two main international frames for the question: the Forum's employer surveys and the ILO's labour standards and agenda.
Latest checked
Newest firstWhat is the Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI)?
What the GTCI talent ranking measures, how its six pillars and 0 to 100 scores are built, who publishes it and how it differs from other rankings.
GTCI 2025 ranking: top 25 countries and scores
The Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2025 top 25 with scores, pillar leaders and what moved against the 2023 edition, from the INSEAD and Portulans report.
GTCI 2017 results: top 25 ranking and findings
GTCI 2017: the top 25 countries with scores, pillar leaders, model changes, the technology theme, the city index and the audit.
GTCI pillars: Enable, Attract, Grow, Retain, VT and GA
What each of the six Global Talent Competitiveness Index pillars measures, which sub-pillars and indicators sit under it and who led it in 2025.
GTCI methodology: how the score is calculated
How the GTCI turns 77 indicators into one score: sources, coverage rules, outliers, 0 to 100 scaling, equal weights and the JRC audit, with worked examples.
Who led the GTCI, 2013 to 2025: Switzerland, then Singapore
How close the race for first place was in each Global Talent Competitiveness Index, 2013 to 2025, and how much a margin of a few points is worth.
Who led each edition
11 editions| Edition | Countries ranked | First | Score | Second |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 135 | Singapore | 73.29 | Switzerland |
| 2023 | 134 | Switzerland | 78.96 | Singapore |
| 2022 | 133 | Switzerland | 78.20 | Singapore |
| 2021 | 134 | Switzerland | 82.09 | Singapore |
| 2020 | 132 | Switzerland | 81.26 | United States |
| 2019 | 125 | Switzerland | 81.82 | Singapore |
| 2018 | 119 | Switzerland | 79.90 | Singapore |
| 2017 | 118 | Switzerland | 74.55 | Singapore |
| 2015-16 | 109 | Switzerland | n/a | Singapore |
| 2014 | 93 | Switzerland | 71.46 | Singapore |
| 2013 | 103 | Switzerland | 74.83 | Singapore |
Edition years, country counts and scores come from each edition's own report; 2015-16 prints ranks only. The Rankings by edition section links the editions that have their own page.