Since 2012 | 193 Countries Tracked

The Global Sustainable Competitiveness Index

Not competitive = not sustainable. Not sustainable = not competitive.

The most comprehensive measurement of country competitiveness and sustainability. Based on 296 quantitative indicators from trusted international organizations, providing bias-free evaluation of country performance.

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193
Countries Covered
296
Quantitative Indicators
50+
Years of Data
1000+
Academic Citations
5
Governments Using GSCI
Trusted by Governments Worldwide

Officially Adopted by 5 National Governments

The GSCI is now officially used by governments to benchmark their progress on the path to sustainability and competitiveness, providing a comprehensive alternative to GDP for tracking ESG country performance.

Measuring Competitiveness Beyond GDP

The Global Sustainable Competitiveness Index (GSCI) is a fully integrated measurement of a country's performance and outlook. Based on 296 quantitative indicators derived from global organisations (various specialised UN agencies, the World Bank, the IMF), the GSCI measures all sectors, integrating macroeconomics, innovation capabilities, governance issues, society themes and the environment: the sustainable competitiveness of a nation. The GSCI is the most comprehensive country-level index available.

The GSCI serves as a comprehensive alternative to the GDP: GDP measures only what is exchanged in the market against money, but excludes everything else: environment, health, education, security, governance, and quality of living. The GSCI, in contrast, measures what makes success possible. The GSCI allows for assessing country-specific and issue-specific risks for operators and investors, and verifying development progress for countries on their path to sustainability and competitiveness.

Not competitive = not sustainable.
Not sustainable = not competitive.

Sustainable competitiveness is the ability to generate and sustain inclusive wealth without diminishing the future capability of sustaining or increasing current wealth levels.

The Sustainable Competitiveness Model

The indicators of the GSCI are grouped into 6 sub-indexes: Natural Capital, Resource Efficiency & Intensity, Social Capital, Intellectual Capital, Economic Sustainability, and Governance Capital. Taken together, these pillars define a national performance and future outlook.

Sustainable
Competitiveness
Natural Capital
Resource Efficiency & Intensity
Social Capital
Intellectual Capital & Innovation
Economic Sustainability
Governance Efficiency

Natural Capital

The given natural environment, including the availability of resources, and the level of the depletion of those resources

Resource Efficiency & Intensity

The efficiency of using available resources as a measurement of operational competitiveness in a resource-constraint World

Social Capital

Health, security, freedom, equality and life satisfaction within a country

Intellectual Capital & Innovation

The capability to generate wealth and jobs through innovation and value-added industries in the globalised markets

Economic Sustainability

Economic Sustainability & Competitiveness reflects the ability to generate wealth through sustainable economic development

Governance Efficiency

Results of core state areas and investments – infrastructure, market and employment structure, the provision of a framework for sustained and sustainable wealth generation

Global Sustainable Competitiveness Rankings

Explore how countries rank across all dimensions of sustainable competitiveness. Click any country to open its profile in a new tab.

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State of The World 2026

A global snapshot of sustainable competitiveness performance and trends

Global Sustainability Scores

Global Average45%

Current global performance

Global Best63%

Sweden leads at 63%

Ideal World100%

Perfect sustainability

The Gap: The average score is 45%, less than 50% of the ideal. Even Sweden at 63% demonstrates that we're far from being truly sustainable and competitive.

Global Development Trends

Improving Development59%

Indicators showing positive trends

Deteriorating Development36%

Indicators showing decline

Neutral5%

No significant change

Mixed Progress: While 59% of indicators show positive developments, an alarming 36% are deteriorating. We are moving forward and backwards simultaneously.

Key Takeaways from GSCI 2026

Insights from the world's most comprehensive country sustainability assessment

1

Northern Europe (Scandinavia) continues to lead the Global Sustainable Competitiveness Index: Sweden tops the ranking, followed by Norway, Switzerland and Finland, with Denmark fifth. Iceland is ranked 7th.

2

Europe dominates the top 20: Japan (16th) is the only non-European nation in the top 20, with Taiwan 21st, South Korea 23rd and Singapore 25th. Lithuania (11th), Estonia (13th) and Latvia (19th) are all in the top 20.

3

Asia tops the Intellectual Capital Index, the basis of future competitiveness in a world dominated by technology: South Korea ranks first, Taiwan third and Japan fifth, with China 7th.

4

The Social Capital Index is headed by Slovenia, Norway and the Netherlands, followed by Iceland and Czechia, with Japan sixth: societies that combine high living standards with a broadly shared social consensus.

5

China ranks 7th in Intellectual Capital but only 34th overall: evidence of underlying problems in Natural Capital (167th) and Resource Efficiency (153rd), albeit with encouraging signs of efficiency improvements.

6

The USA is ranked 42nd, performing comparatively poorly in social capital (162nd) and resource efficiency (162nd), reflecting a decline that is potentially further undermining the global status of the US in the future.

7

Countries in Africa are facing challenges across the board, with a combination of poor scores in several dimensions. 11 of the 20 lowest-ranked countries are African, with low performance in social and intellectual capital, affecting the potential for real improvements in the short term.

8

The global gap to a perfectly sustainable and competitive world is 54.6 points. The world is still far from an inclusive and circular society that is truly sustainable and competitive.

Why Sustainable Competitiveness Tracking Matters

A comprehensive alternative to GDP, measuring what truly drives sustainable competitiveness

For Governments

Track competitiveness and policy effectiveness across 6 dimensions and 42 clusters

For Investors

Assess country-level ESG risks and identify sustainable investment opportunities

For Researchers

Access bias-free data from trusted international organizations spanning 50+ years

For Businesses

Identify sustainable markets for expansion and assess operational risks

Professional Risk Analysis Platform

Access industry-specific risk evaluation, interactive analysis, and comprehensive ESG data through our professional dashboard. Designed for institutional investors, analysts, and business professionals.

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GSCI Report Downloads

Access comprehensive reports, data, and insights

Cover image of GSCI Report 2025 - The Global Sustainable Competitiveness Index 2025

GSCI Report 2025

The Global Sustainable Competitiveness Index 2025

Download (4.7 MB)
Cover image of GSCI Data 2025 - GSCI Scores 2025 (Excel)

GSCI Data 2025

GSCI Scores 2025 (Excel)

Download (93 KB)
Cover image of GSCI Credit Ratings - Sovereign Bond Credit Ratings based on the GSCI: ESG Sovereign Bonds

GSCI Credit Ratings

Sovereign Bond Credit Ratings based on the GSCI: ESG Sovereign Bonds

Download (1.4 MB)
Cover image of The Blueprint - Achieving Sustainable Competitiveness: Sustainable. Competitive.

The Blueprint

Achieving Sustainable Competitiveness: Sustainable. Competitive.

Download (3.2 MB)
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Country Rankings

Explore how countries rank across all dimensions of sustainable competitiveness

Rank
Country
Score
1Sweden62.89
2Norway61.84
3Switzerland61.74
4Finland61.67
5Denmark61.32
6Ireland60.77
7Iceland60.02
8Luxembourg59.53
9Austria59.49
10United Kingdom58.98
11Lithuania58.86
12France58.72
13Estonia58.64
14Netherlands58.45
15Germany58.22
16Japan57.75
17Slovenia57.54
18Liechtenstein57.00
19Latvia56.80
20Poland56.29
21Taiwan56.13
22Belgium55.96
23South Korea55.91
24Slovakia55.77
25Singapore55.69
26Portugal55.57
27Croatia55.53
28Czech Republic54.79
29Italy54.26
30New Zealand53.74

Note: Showing top 30 countries. Click column headers to sort.

View the full Sustainable Competitiveness RankingExplore the interactive data at gsci.solability.com

Frequently Asked Questions

The GSCI is a quantitative index that measures national competitiveness and sustainability for 193 countries. Published annually by SolAbility since 2012, it uses over 296 indicators sourced from trusted international organizations such as the World Bank, UN, and WHO. Unlike GDP, the GSCI evaluates the full range of factors that determine a country's ability to generate and sustain inclusive wealth. Learn more about the methodology.
The World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Index was discontinued in 2020 and focused primarily on economic and business factors, with approximately 69% of its data derived from executive opinion surveys rather than measured performance data. The GSCI is based entirely on quantitative performance data from international organizations, covers a broader scope integrating environmental, social, and governance dimensions, and shows a stronger correlation to actual economic growth than the WEF index did. It is updated annually, providing a comprehensive, currently active alternative for benchmarking national competitiveness.
Sustainable competitiveness is the ability of a country to generate and sustain inclusive wealth without diminishing its future capability of maintaining or increasing current wealth levels. It goes beyond GDP by accounting for natural resource depletion, social cohesion, intellectual capacity, governance quality, and resource efficiency alongside economic output.
The GSCI evaluates countries across six sub-indexes: Natural Capital (environmental resources and depletion), Resource Efficiency and Intensity (how efficiently resources are used), Social Capital (health, security, equality, and life satisfaction), Intellectual Capital and Innovation (capacity for value creation through knowledge), Economic Sustainability (long-term economic health), and Governance Efficiency (institutional quality, infrastructure, and market frameworks).
The GSCI is built from over 296 quantitative indicators sourced exclusively from international organizations including the World Bank, United Nations, WHO, ILO, and UNESCO. Indicators are grouped into 6 dimensions and 42 sub-clusters. All data is quantitative and verifiable, eliminating subjective surveys or expert opinions. Country scores are normalized on a 0-100 scale, where 100 represents an ideal sustainable and competitive society. See the full methodology.
The GSCI 2025 is topped by Finland, followed by Sweden and Denmark. Northern European countries dominate the overall rankings, with Iceland ranked 8th and Norway 9th. Japan is the only non-European country in the top 20. In specific dimensions, South Korea, Japan, and China lead in Intellectual Capital, while Scandinavian countries dominate Social Capital and Governance.
The GSCI is published by SolAbility, a sustainable competitiveness research firm founded in 2005 and based in Switzerland and South Korea. The index is updated annually. Data is available from 2012 onwards, creating a time series that tracks country performance trends over more than a decade.
The GSCI provides country-level ESG risk assessment across 6 dimensions, useful for sovereign bond analysis, foreign direct investment screening, and supply chain risk evaluation. Five national governments officially use the GSCI for policy benchmarking. The ESG Country Risk Dashboard offers interactive tools designed for professional investors and analysts. See also the ESG Sovereign Bond Ratings.
GSCI reports, country rankings, and data files are available for free download on this page. The full archive, including historical data and dimension-specific reports, is available on the GSCI Downloads page. Data is provided in PDF and Excel formats covering all 193 countries and 6 dimensions.
The GSCI has been cited in over 1,000 academic publications. Suggested citation: SolAbility (2026), The Global Sustainable Competitiveness Index 2026, https://solability.com/the-global-sustainable-competitiveness-index. Methodology details and historical datasets are available for download.
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Access comprehensive data, rankings, and insights for 193 countries across 50+ years of sustainable competitiveness tracking. Our professional risk management platform provides interactive analysis and enterprise-grade tools for informed decision-making.

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