• Scandinavia continues to top the Sustainable Competitiveness Index: of the top 6 spots, 5 are Scandinavian. Sweden keeps topping the Index;
• The top 20 are dominated by Northern European countries;
• Only one country in the Top 20 is not European: Japan on 12 (South Korea 21);
• For the first time, China (ranked 30) overtakes the US (32) – China is strong in Intellectual Capital, but low on Natural Capita & Resource Efficiency;
• The USA is ranked 32, performing particularly low in resource efficiency and social capital – potentially further undermining the global status of the US in the future;
• Germany ranks 15, The UK 16, and France 18;
• Brazil ranks 65, India 121, and Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, ranks156;
• Some of the least developed nations have a considerable higher GSCI ranking than their GDP would suggest (e.g. Colombia, Peu, Nepal, Bhutan, Bolivia, …)
• Asian nations (South Korea, Japan, Singapore, and China) lead the Intellectual Capital Index – the basis of innovation. However, achieving sustained prosperity is potentially compromised by Natural Capital constraints and increasing resource consumption.
• The Social Capital Index ranking is headed by Northern European (Scandinavian) countries, the result of economic growth combined with a commonly accepted social consensus
• Focus in 2023: the deployment of renewable technology has reached a critical mass and cost parity. Fossil fuels are no longer competitive, and will drastically decline after 2030. The oil-exporting Gulf states need to replace a significant proportion of their income with alternatives. Are the Gulf countries ready for the energy transition, and how could they replace the fossil income? Read more here, or download the report How to replace fossil income in the Gulf countries.

Download the The Global Sustainable Competitiveness Index 2023 (PDF, 90 pages)