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| Source: INSEAD GTCI infographic. GTCI ranks in 2023 vs 2025. Singapore has moved up while Australia has moved down in the top 12. |
Singapore has leapfrogged Switzerland to take top spot in the latest Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI), riding on its strength in cultivating adaptable, digitally fluent and innovation-ready workforces in the age of AI.
This year is the first time the city-state topped the annual ranking, which was launched by INSEAD in 2013 as a benchmark for policy thinking on labour markets, work organisation and talent flows.
Themed Resilience in the Age of Disruption, the 11th GTCI examines how nations and economies are building talent systems capable of weathering disruptions. The ranking of 135 economies is based on 77 indicators, including soft skills and AI talent concentration, across six dimensions: Enable, Attract, Grow, Retain, Vocational and Technical Skills, and Generalist Adaptive Skills.
Lily Fang, INSEAD’s Dean of Research and Innovation, commented: “This year’s report should be seen as much more than a race between nations. It offers leaders thoughtful points of reflection on how to integrate powerful technologies, such as AI, into the grand pursuit of human progress.”
This year’s ranking also marks the launch of a new partnership between INSEAD and the Portulans Institute, a non-profit research outfit based in the US. “This collaboration brings renewed depth and clarity to the GTCI at a time when rapid technological change, geopolitical uncertainty and profound societal transitions make dependable talent metrics more essential than ever,” said Rafael Escalona Reynoso, CEO of Portulans Institute.
Singapore stands apart in the latest ranking for the constant evolution of its educational system and its forward-looking approach to nurturing an adaptive and innovation-driven workforce, said the GTCI report.
The city-state was ranked first in Generalist Adaptive Skills for a workforce armed with the soft skills, digital literacy and innovation-oriented thinking that today’s fast-shifting landscape demands. Generalist Adaptive Skills has emerged as one of the strongest determinants of talent competitiveness. Singapore’s ability to retain talent also surged seven spots from 2023, to 31st in 2025.
The city-state has also scored well for its effective governance and high standard of living, in addition to the constant evolution of its educational system and its forward-looking approach to nurturing an adaptive, innovation-driven workforce. Furthermore, Singapore placed first in the Formal Education and Regulatory Landscape measures, showing the depth and resilience of its human capital systems and institutional frameworks.
“Economies that cultivate adaptable, cross-functional and AI-literate workforces tend to be better positioned to convert disruption into opportunity and sustain long-term competitiveness,” said Professor Paul Evans, Emeritus Professor of Organisational Behaviour at INSEAD and co-editor of the report.
“This year’s results underscore that talent competitiveness is not solely a function of income level, but of strategic policy orientation, institutional quality and effective mobilisation of human capital resources.”
GTCI 2025: The top 20
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1. Singapore |
11. Ireland |
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2. Switzerland |
12. UK |
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3. Denmark |
13. Iceland |
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4. Finland |
14. Canada |
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5. Sweden |
15. Belgium |
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6. Netherlands |
16. Austria |
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7. Norway |
17. Germany |
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8. Luxembourg |
18. New Zealand |
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9. US |
19. France |
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10. Australia |
20. Czech Republic |
One of the defining messages of GTCI 2025 is that the ability to translate investments into meaningful outcomes will set economies apart in the talent race. Singapore, South Korea and Israel stood out for their ability to get better talent outcomes with fewer resources.
This was also true for some lower-middle income countries such as Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Low-income countries also demonstrated strong foundations for talent development.
Evans said: “Economies that align education, labour and innovation systems towards adaptive talent development can achieve high performance even with modest income levels.”
Regionally speaking, there were few surprises. Europe continues to dominate the ranking, accounting for 18 of the top 25 positions. In Asia and Oceania, Australia (10th) and New Zealand (18th) outscored Singapore in retaining talent but fell behind in General Adaptive Skills.
China’s decline from 40th to 53rd reflected a less favourable business climate and labour market, though the report acknowledges that insufficient data could also have played a part. India, on the other hand, climbed three spots, to 100th. Strengthening the quality of its vocational education and employability could help it capitalise on its digital strengths and world-leading IT service exports.
North Africa and Western Asia were led by Israel (23rd) while the UAE (25th) topped the region in attracting talent and developing skills, although it lagged in high-level skills.
“True resilience in talent is turning adversity into a catalyst for innovation, adaptability and renewed purpose,” said Professor Felipe Monteiro, GTCI Academic Director and Senior Affiliate Professor of Strategy at INSEAD.
“Resilience means learning how to bounce forward, not just bounce back from the inevitable shocks and crises.”
Escalona Reynoso added: “What matters most today are adaptive capabilities: the ability to collaborate, think across disciplines, innovate under pressure and navigate fast-moving, tech-driven environments.
“These are the skills that increasingly define a country’s competitiveness - and the GTCI now captures this reality more clearly than ever.”
Escalona Reynoso, Professor Evans and Professor Monteiro co-authored an INSEAD Knowledge article that identified the Nordic nations, Singapore and Switzerland as good examples of societal resilience in action. Resilience entails giving priority to active labour market practices to support citizens in bouncing forward from job loss, which may accelerate with the impact of AI, they explained.
Resilience also means having educational systems that help people learn from adversity, alongside a continued focus on developing organisational agility and collaborative problem-solving. To achieve resilience, people must be able to collaborate, think across disciplines, innovate under pressure and navigate fast-moving, tech-driven environments. The Generalist Adaptive Skills dimension of this year’s report operationalises this idea within the talent framework, while new indicators on AI capability, soft skills, employee well-being and workforce resilience measure not only where countries stand, but their preparedness for what comes next.
Taking an AI lens to the situation, the authors said that "the capacity to integrate AI tools, think critically about their use, and combine technological fluency with human-centric soft skills will be indispensable".
Explore
Download the report and infographics at https://www.insead.edu/global-talent-competitiveness-index
Hashtag: #GTCI2025
