Europeans largely dominate in Global Competitiveness Index

 Global Talent Competitiveness Index

The international business school INSEAD recently published the latest edition of its Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) produced in partnership with the Adecco Group and Tata Communications.

This year’s theme “Diversity for competitiveness” compared the countries’ ability to attract, grow and retain talents. The 2018 edition of the GTCI is based on 68 variables (65 in 2017), covering 119 countries and 90 cities (118 and 46 respectively in 2017). This year, the GTCI scores are once again dominated by high-income developed countries. Switzerland retains its number 1 position, followed by Singapore  and the United States.

Luxembourg rank 10^th

Once again, Europeans countries largely dominate the GTCI ranking, with 15 countries in the top 25. According to the study, one of the main reasons why Luxembourg came 10^th is due to its strong external openness (“Attract” pillar). The study also revealed that the Grand Duchy attracts foreign talent and companies and welcomes them in an environment shaped by strong social inclusion. The statistics show that Luxembourg also performs well in terms of retaining national talent (8^th position).

However, the report also reveals a few weak points and pinpoints certain areas in which Luxembourg can improve, such as formal education, where the country lags behind at 51^st place. The study suggests that Luxembourg boasts a good level of social protection (3^rd), and active labour market policies (3^rd), but has room for improvement in the employability (32^nd) of national talent in the private sector.

The top-ranking countries are mostly European

8 out of the top 10 countries in the 2018 GTCI are European, and all of these have a well-developed education system. Singapore and the US are the only non-Europeans in this group.

As a general rule, the smaller European countries tend to perform better than the bigger ones. For example, the Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) all rank higher than the major European economies such as Germany and France.

- Article written by the editorial team of the portal luxembourg.lu -