The Social Capital Index

Social Capital Index: World Map

Social capital

The Social Capital of a nation is the sum of social stability and the well-being (perceived or real) of the entire population. Social Capital generates social cohesion and a certain level of consensus, which in turn delivers a stable environment for the economy, and prevents natural resources from being over-exploited.

In addition to local historical and cultural influences, the social consensus in a society is affected by several factors: health care systems and their universal availability/affordability (measuring physical health); income and asset equality, which are correlated to crime levels; demographic structure (to assess the future generational balance within a society); freedom of expression and freedom from fear; and the absence of violent conflicts. Only in these circumstances can the economy flourish, generate value, jobs and income for the population. The Socail Capital Index is based on indicators related to the following clusters:

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The Social Capital Index 2022 – Key Observations

The Social Capital Index is topped by the Scandinavian nations
The top 20 in the Social Capital sub-index is dominated by Western European countries and the Baltics – except for South Korea (3), Japan (6), and the United Arab Emirates (9)
The USA, due to comparable high crime rates, low availability of health services, and rising inequality, is ranked 111, just below Nicaragua and above Ghana.
The UK is ranked 51, reflecting the deteriorating social fabric.
China is ranked 37, India 102, Nigeria 119, and Brazil 136
The highest ranked South American countries are Chile (68), followed by Peru (69), Uruguay (70) and Argentina (72); the highest-ranking African nations are Tunisia (84), Algeria (85) and Malawi (88)
Most African nations, particular within and south of the Sahel zone, are at the bottom of this list, due to a combination of low availability of health care services and child mortality, limited freedom of expression, and unstable human rights situation

State of the World

Global Scores

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Global Average

Global Best

Ideal World

Global Trends

The global average Social Capital Score is 45 – a gap of 55 to a perfect state – while the global best is 64. Not surprisingly, the nations in the North (particularly Scandinavia) are significantly ahead of countries in the South (particular Africa and Central Asia).

Only 48% of all indicators across all nations show positive development, while 38% are negative, and 14% do not show a clear trend in either direction. The high number of negative developments reflects the decline of equality across the globe.

2022 Social Capital Ranking

Rank	Country	Score
1	Iceland	66.0
2	Finland	63.6
3	Japan	62.9
4	Slovenia	62.8
5	Norway	62.7
6	South Korea	61.9
7	Portugal	61.3
8	Denmark	60.4
9	United Arab Emirates	60.3
10	Sweden	60.2
11	Netherlands	60.1
12	Austria	60.0
13	Armenia	59.8
14	Italy	59.7
15	Estonia	58.9
16	Belgium	58.5
17	Spain	58.5
18	Poland	58.4
19	Cyprus	58.1
20	Maldives	58.1
21	Luxembourg	57.9
22	Slovakia	57.9
23	Czech Republic	57.4
24	Croatia	57.4
25	France	57.3
26	Albania	57.1
27	Singapore	57.0
28	Lithuania	56.8
29	Switzerland	56.7
30	North Macedonia	56.5
31	Moldova	56.3
32	Serbia	55.8
33	Germany	55.3
34	Ireland	55.2
35	Belarus	55.0
36	Kyrgistan	54.8
37	China	54.8
38	Latvia	54.0
39	Bosnia and Herzegovina	53.5
40	Greece	53.5
41	Timor-Leste	53.4
42	Australia	53.3
43	Romania	53.1
44	Malta	52.6
45	Qatar	52.3
46	Greenland	51.7
47	Canada	51.7
48	Montenegro	51.7
49	New Zealand	51.6
50	Indonesia	51.3
51	United Kingdom	50.8
52	Uzbekistan	50.7
53	Israel	50.3
54	Mongolia	50.3
55	Ukraine	50.1
56	Hungary	50.0
57	Bulgaria	49.7
58	Seychelles	49.6
59	Thailand	49.4
60	Bhutan	49.4

Rank	Country	Score
61	Sri Lanka	49.3
62	Kuwait	49.1
63	Saudi Arabia	49.1
64	Georgia	49.1
65	Senegal	48.9
66	Burma	48.7
67	Oman	48.5
68	Chile	48.5
69	Peru	48.1
70	Uruguay	48.0
71	Mauritius	48.0
72	Argentina	47.6
73	Malaysia	47.3
74	Azerbaijan	47.2
75	Kazakhstan	47.2
76	Ecuador	47.1
77	Nepal	47.1
78	Sao Tome and Principe	46.5
79	Lebanon	46.3
80	Brunei	46.2
81	El Salvador	46.0
82	Costa Rica	45.8
83	Cape Verde	45.7
84	Algeria	45.6
85	Tunisia	45.3
86	Tajikistan	45.2
87	Tonga	45.0
88	Malawi	44.8
89	Vietnam	44.6
90	Philippines	44.5
91	Tanzania	43.9
92	Trinidad and Tobago	43.8
93	Bangladesh	43.5
94	Jordan	43.4
95	Panama	43.4
96	Turkey	43.4
97	Kenya	43.3
98	Dominican Republic	42.9
99	Guinea	42.7
100	Paraguay	42.6
101	West Bank and Gaza	42.4
102	India	42.4
103	Vanuatu	42.3
104	Bahrain	42.2
105	Cuba	42.1
106	Bolivia	42.0
107	Grenada	41.8
108	Sierra Leone	41.8
109	Cambodia	41.7
110	Nicaragua	41.5
111	USA	41.4
112	Ghana	41.2
113	Kiribati	41.1
114	Solomon Islands	41.0
115	Cameroon	40.8
116	Benin	40.5
117	Ethiopia	40.4
118	Rwanda	40.3
119	Nigeria	40.0
120	Liberia	40.0

Rank	Country	Score
121	Gambia	39.9
122	Mexico	39.9
123	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	39.6
124	Cote d'Ivoire	39.5
125	Niger	39.4
126	Pakistan	39.4
127	Venezuela	39.2
128	Guyana	39.1
129	Guinea-Bissau	38.9
130	Fiji	38.9
131	Namibia	38.8
132	Honduras	38.8
133	Uganda	38.5
134	Jamaica	38.4
135	Iran	38.4
136	Brazil	38.4
138	Turkmenistan	38.3
139	Burundi	37.9
140	Samoa	37.9
141	Iraq	37.6
142	Colombia	37.1
143	Bahamas	37.1
144	Syria	37.1
145	Gabon	36.8
146	Suriname	36.7
147	Mozambique	36.6
148	Micronesia	36.6
149	St. Kitts and Nevis	36.5
150	Togo	36.2
151	Laos	36.2
152	Mauritania	36.2
153	Madagascar	36.2
154	Morocco	36.2
155	Mali	35.6
156	Chad	35.6
157	Belize	35.5
158	Burkina Faso	35.4
159	Papua New Guinea	35.3
160	Democratic Republic of Congo	34.6
161	Dominica	34.5
162	Lesotho	34.3
163	Sudan	33.6
164	Egypt	33.4
165	Djibouti	33.4
166	Botswana	33.2
167	Zimbabwe	33.0
168	Zambia	32.9
169	Comoros	32.8
170	Angola	32.3
171	Equatorial Guinea	32.3
172	Yemen	32.2
173	Guatemala	32.0
174	South Africa	32.0
175	Haiti	31.9
176	Afghanistan	31.6
177	Republic of Congo	31.5
178	South Sudan	31.1
180	Eritrea	29.9

The Social Capital Index

Social Capital Index: World Map

Social capital

Quick links

The Social Capital Index 2022 – Key Observations

State of the World

Global Scores

Global Trends

2022 Social Capital Ranking