(23 September 2021) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has for years been the key economic indicator used for cross-country comparisons. The value of GDP shows how large a country's economy is, and per capita GDP is used to compare countries' productivity and technological development. However, emphasis on these directly measurable indicators often obscures qualitative characteristics of development that can significantly...

(19 October 2021) In mid-October the Global Hunger Index released its annual report, which estimates progress in fighting hunger in more than one hundred emerging and developing economies. According to the 2021 Global Hunger Index report, the world will fail to achieve a low level of global hunger in the next decade. Here are key takeaways: The progress in fighting hunger made in recent years can be quickly wiped...

(28 October 2021) In the modern digital world, access to the internet is increasingly becoming a basic human need. A worldwide broadband pricing report from Cable.co.uk shows how much the price for internet access varies across countries. Some key takeaways: The world's cheapest fixed-line broadband is currently offered in Ukraine, with an average monthly cost of US$6.40 per month. Five of the ten countries with...

(30 June 2021) While it’s true that major powers aren’t engaging in the kind of devastating large-scale wars that rocked the first half of the 20th century, data from the Institute for Economics and Peace shows that the state of global peace is deteriorating. According to the Institute's 2021 Global Peace Index report, between 2012 and 2021 the peace index score deteriorated in 87 countries (out of 158 for which...

(24 March 2021) According to WIPO's 2020 Global Innovation Index report, Switzerland, Sweden, the US, the UK, and the Netherlands continue to lead the innovation ranking in 2020, with a second Asian economy—the Republic of Korea—joining the top 10 for the first time (Singapore is number 8). High-income countries held all of the top 10 spots again this year; however, China has retained its place among the 15 most...

Talent, not capital, will be the key factor linking innovation, competitiveness and growth in the 21st century, and we must each understand better the global talent value chain. Better data and metrics are critical to this understanding. The Human Capital Index quantifies how countries are developing and deploying their human capital and tracks progress over time. This Report provides comprehensive information on...

(3 February 2021) The competitiveness of Eastern European and some African countries may be underestimated while that of the world's top economies, like the United States and Singapore, overestimated. Wonder why? We'll give you a clue: sustainability. The Global Sustainable Competitiveness Index (GSCI) by SolAbility* is one of multiple measures available today to estimate the competitiveness of countries. Others...

The Fragile States Index is an annual ranking of 178 nations based on their levels of stability and the pressures they face. The Index is based on The Fund for Peace’s proprietary Conflict Assessment System Tool (CAST) analytical platform. Based on comprehensive social science methodology, data from three primary sources is triangulated and subjected to critical review to obtain final scores for the Fragile States...

In the last five years immense progress has been made all around the world in the field of enhancing tax transparency. Today it can be said that era of bank secrecy for tax purposes is over due to implementation of international standards of tax transparency and exchange of information on request (EIOR) by many countries that helps successful tackling of international tax evasion. Global Forum on Transparency and...

The Global Youth Wellbeing Index collects youth-related data to estimate the state of young people’s wellbeing throughout the world. The Index is designed to elevate youth needs and opportunities along with young people’s participation on national and global issues. It also provides public and private sector decision-makers with a clear vision of today’s youth needs. The Index takes into account 30 countries with...

The Policy Potential Index (PPI) is a composite index, measuring the overall policy attractiveness of the 96 jurisdictions in the survey. The index is composed of survey responses to 15 policy factors that affect investment decisions. The PPI is normalized to a maximum score of 100. Finland had the highest PPI score of 95.5. Along with Finland, the top 10 ranked jurisdictions are Sweden, Alberta, New...

Over 800,000 people die due to suicide every year and there are many more who attempt suicide. Hence, many millions of people are affected or experience suicide bereavement every year. There is one death by suicide in the world every 40 seconds. Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death in the world for those aged 15-44 years. Source : http://knoema.com/WLDSU2015/suicide-statistics-2013

The World Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law Index® provides original, impartial data on how the rule of law is experienced by the general public in 102 countries around the globe. The WJP Rule of Law Index 2016® relies on over 100,000 household and 2,400 expert surveys to measure how the rule of law is experienced in practical, everyday situations by ordinary people around the world. Performance is assessed using...

The World Giving Index score is based on an average of three measures of giving behaviour - the percentage of people who, in a typical month, donate money to charity, volunteer their time, and help a stranger. The three behaviours are also looked at on an individual basis within the report. This year’s report shows that, though the pace of economic expansion has slowed, the levels of involvement in giving – for all...

During the past three years, the World Economic Forum has been working on the New Energy Architecture initiative to better understand the changes underway in the global energy system, and how they can be managed to enable an effective transition. A core pillar of this work has been the development of the Global Energy Architecture Performance Index. The EAPI employs a set of indicators to assess and rank the energy...

The cheapest city to drink a beer is Krakow, Poland, according to the results of 2015 GoEuro Beer Price Index. The average price of a 33cl bottle of beer in this Polish city came in at only $1.66. In contrast, you'll likely not be surprised to learn that Geneva, Switzerland, has become the most expensive city worldwide to grab a beer, with an average beer price of $6.32. You can avoid a costly beer in Geneva if you...

The Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015 assesses the competitiveness landscape of 144 economies, providing insight into the drivers of their productivity and prosperity. The report remains the most comprehensive assessment of national competitiveness worldwide, providing a platform for dialogue between government, business and civil society about the actions required to improve economic prosperity....

Global food system is far from perfect: even though there is enough food for everyone on Earth ones go to bed hungry every night while others suffer from obesity and overweight. What is wrong with our food system which cannot provide people with enough of the right food and what could be done to treat these failings? "The Good Enough to Eat Index" is the effort of OXFAM - international organization tackling poverty...

Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) complements standard income poverty indicators (which define poverty as percent of population living at 1.25, 2, 2.5 etc. dollars a day) by taking into account deprivation aspect of poverty. Thus, for many people being poor means not only lack of money but also limited access to education, nutrition, sanitation, water and so on. MPI concept embraces this idea by defining the poor...

The Grant Thornton Global Dynamism Index (GDI) ranks 60 leading economies on their dynamism in five key areas – business operating environment, economics & growth, science & technology, labour & human capital and financing environment. The GDI analyses 22 indicators across these five categories to assess the dynamism of business growth environments around the world, where dynamism refers to the...

According to the latest World Happiness Report, issued by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) on Apr 23 2015, the happiest countries in the world are Switzerland, Iceland, Denmark and Norway. Four top countries have average scores between 7.5 and 7.6, and the differences between them are not statistically significant. The rest of the top 10 (in order) are Canada, Finland, Netherlands, Sweden, New...

Gender inequality arises from differences in social, political, and civil rights between men and women and has persisted in various forms since ancient times. The Global Gender Gap Report states that none of us will see gender equality during our lifetimes. If true, this will mean a perpetuation of stunted economic development. Without the full deployment of roughly half of the world’s total talent pool, full...

Every year Forbes publishes a list of nearly 80 people who make the world turn. The annual list is made up of presidents, prime ministers, CEOs, spiritual leaders, and some of the world's richest people. In today's viz, we share the most recent results and some of the underlying data behind the ranking. The information corresponds to the four dimensions Forbes uses to assess candidates: Power over people. Or, the...

The Global Opportunity Index answers a pressing need for information that's vital to a thriving global economy. What policies can governments pursue to attract foreign direct investment (FDI), expand their economies, and accelerate job creation. What do multinational companies, other investors, and development agencies need to know before making large-scale, long-term capital commitments. The costs and conditions...

DHL released the third edition of its Global Connectedness Index (GCI), a detailed analysis of the state of globalization around the world. The latest report, authored by internationally acclaimed globalization expert Professor Pankaj Ghemawat together with Steven A. Altman, shows that global connectedness, measured by cross-border flows of trade, capital, information and people, has recovered most of its losses...

Most innovation rankings are popularity contests based on past performance or editorial whims. We set out to create something very different with the World’s Most Innovative Companies list, using the wisdom of the crowd. Our method relies on investors’ ability to identify firms they expect to be innovative now and in the future. Companies are ranked by their innovation premium: the difference between their market...

The Networked Readiness Index (NRI), developed by the World Economic Forum in the frame of Global Information Technology Report, which is considered as the most comprehensive and authoritative international assessment of its kind, depicts the current stage of progress made in the world towards leveraging ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) to boost productivity, economic growth, employment creation and,...

The Energy Trilemma Index ranks countries in terms of their likely ability to provide sustainable energy policies through the three dimensions of the energy trilemma: Energy security: the effective management of primary energy supply from domestic and external sources, the reliability of energy infrastructure, and the ability of participating energy companies to meet current and future demand. Energy equity: the...

Doing Business 2015: Going Beyond Efficiency, a World Bank Group flagship publication, is the 12th in a series of annual reports measuring the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 189 economies—from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe—and over time. Doing...

Innovation Union Scoreboard (IUS) Index assesses 27 European countries on how do they perform in innovation sphere and its subdivisions. By monitoring innovation progress across the EU27 member countries, as well as Iceland, Croatia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia IUS attempts to build strong base to policy discussions and decisions at EU and national level....

Technology is ever evolving and new cyber threats continue to be devised. In embracing technology progress, cybersecurity must form an integral and indivisible part of the process. Unfortunately, cybersecurity is not yet at the core of many national and industrial technology strategies. Countries need to be aware of their current capability level in cybersecurity and at the same time identify areas where...

India is a country with the biggest amount of snakebite envenoming cases occurring each year: on average, 120 thousand cases take place every year in this country. However, India is the second biggest country in the world and that is why mentioned above number looks much less ghastly in terms of per 1000 population, namely, 0.1 cases. Bhutan, conversely, is less favorable country in this regard with as much as 4...

World university rankings are lists of higher education institutions ordered using a combination of indicators. Some rankings rely mainly on research indicators, while others place a great deal of emphasis on opinion based surveys. Up to now, there has been no ranking measuring the quality of the learning environment as well as research without relying on surveys and university data submissions. The CWUR ranking...

If you’re a frequent international traveler, you probably look forward to the next stamp that will be added to the collection of pages inside. But as you approach airport security, clutching the document in your hand, have you ever wondered just how powerful it is? The answer depends on your passport’s country of origin. A tool called Passport Index aims to help curious travelers rank countries based on how easily...

Politics has long been considered as a 'man's world.' Even today, women remain significantly underrepresented in legislative and executive branches of government globally despite research that suggests a strong connection between women in leadership and economic and democratic gains. Today one-fifth of the world's parliamentarians and less than one quarter of national leaders are women. Rwanda, Cuba and Bolivia...

Modern and legacy political and military relationships, business investment, and other factors weigh on the power of one’s passport, making the list of least and most welcoming countries globally highly dependent on your citizenship. For example, a German passport holder gains access to more countries than travelers on Chinese or Senegalese passports. However, that same German passport holder cannot visit Equatorial...

The Democracy Index measures the state of democracy in 167 countries around the world. The index is based on 60 indicators grouped in five different categories: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of government, political participation, and political culture. In addition to a numeric score and a ranking, the index categorizes countries as one of four regime types: full democracies (8-9...

The Social Progress Index is the result of a two-year process guided by a stellar team of experts which includes, among the others, renowned economists Hernando de Soto and Michael Porter and the president of The Rockefeller Foundation Dr. Judith Rodin. The Index synthesizes a huge body of research to identify the dimensions of performance of societies and measure the social progress comprehensively and...

Millennials are marked for their affinity with media and digital technologies and the consequent positive effect on policy and economy of cities they live in. The migration of individuals of this generation is thus of high interest to everyone from city planners and real estate agents to corporations with long supply chains to recalibrate to the demands of evolving city demographics. Millennials—those aged 17-37...

In today's Viz of the Day we present a unique interactive visualization designed on the basis of Akamai Q2 2015 State of the Internet Report, which shows the main trends in the average and peak internet connection speeds across various countries during the 5-year period from Q1 2010 to Q2 2015. The dashboard clearly shows that the average connection speed has increased significantly during the previous five years...

Make better educated travel decisions with the price index series presented in today's Viz of the Day. The figures highlight common travel-related expenditures, ranging from accommodation, transportation, and urban transit to beer and soccer, and may well help individual travelers to better gauge the relative cost of travel to their destinations of choice.

In 2016, just 1 percent of the world's population owned more than 50 percent of the world's wealth. According to the data from the Credit Suisse Research Institute, inequlity of world wealth continues to grow every year. The Institute's assessment is based on a global analysis of national wealth—defined as the value of the financial assets plus real estate (housing) owned by the households, less their debts—and use...

The annual A.T. Kearney Global Retail Development Index ranks the top 30 developing countries for retail expansion worldwide. The Index combines 25 macroeconomic and retail-specific indicators to help retailers devise successful global strategies and to identify developing market investment opportunities. GRDI scores are based on the following four variables: market attractiveness, market saturation, country and...

In today's Viz of the Day we highlight global trends in mineral production. The visualizations include production figures for more than 70 mineral commodities in 175 countries, covering a five-year period from 2009 to 2013. Here are a few highlights: According to 2013 data compiled by the British Geological Survey in the World Mineral Production 2009-13, production of bauxite experienced the largest annual...

India is considered to be the country with the lowest cost of travelling by air. Average price to travel 100 km by plane in this country is $10.4. Noteworthy that India is one of two countries - the second is United States - where travelling by air is cheaper than travelling by train: in both countries the difference is about 5 dollars. On the opposite side of the ranking traditionally expensive European countries...

The Global Innovation Index (GII) recognizes the key role of innovation as a driver of economic growth and prosperity and acknowledges the need for a broad horizontal vision of innovation that is applicable to both developed and emerging economies, with the inclusion of indicators that go beyond the traditional measures of innovation (such as the level of research and development in a given country). The GII has...

(December 2022) You sometimes hear, “Oh, to be young,” and there is merit to that sentiment depending on where you live out your retirement years. Retirement security is not an issue weighing on individuals alone. It is among the top social issues globally because of a simple fact: the world’s population is getting older. According to the World Bank, the share of people aged 65 and older will double by 2050 to reach...