Human Capital: 2026 National Capability Ratings
Nations on the Global Capability Frontier for Human Capital
Figure 1. Top 25 Nations: Human Capital Capability Frontier
| Human Capital | Hard Capability | Soft Capability | Econ Capability | Frontiers | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tier | Nation | CT | SI | NS | HC | II | GI | FS | PI | TI | T1 | T2 | T3 |
| T1 | 🇪🇪 Estonia | T7 | T3 | T5 | T1 | T2 | T1 | T3 | T2 | T1 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| T1 | 🇮🇱 Israel | T2 | T2 | T1 | T1 | T2 | T1 | T3 | T1 | T1 | 5 | 3 | 1 |
| T1 | 🇸🇬 Singapore | T4 | T1 | T4 | T1 | T1 | T1 | T1 | T1 | T1 | 7 | - | - |
| T1 | 🇨🇠Switzerland | T2 | T1 | T5 | T1 | T1 | T1 | T2 | T1 | T1 | 6 | 2 | - |
| T1 | 🇺🇸 United States | T1 | T1 | T1 | T1 | T1 | T3 | T1 | T1 | T1 | 8 | - | 1 |
| T2 | 🇩🇰 Denmark | T5 | T2 | T5 | T2 | T1 | T1 | T2 | T2 | T2 | 2 | 5 | - |
| T2 | 🇫🇮 Finland | T4 | T1 | T5 | T2 | T1 | T1 | T3 | T2 | T3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| T2 | 🇰🇷 South Korea | T2 | T1 | T3 | T2 | T1 | T2 | T2 | T1 | T1 | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| T2 | 🇸🇪 Sweden | T2 | T1 | T4 | T2 | T1 | T1 | T1 | T1 | T2 | 5 | 3 | - |
| T3 | 🇨🇳 China | T2 | T1 | T2 | T3 | T2 | T4 | T3 | T2 | T2 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| T3 | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | T2 | T1 | T4 | T3 | T1 | T2 | T2 | T2 | T2 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| T3 | 🇳🇴 Norway | T4 | T1 | T4 | T3 | T1 | T1 | T2 | T3 | T3 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| T3 | 🇹🇷 Turkey | T6 | T5 | T3 | T3 | T8 | T4 | T10 | T7 | T8 | - | - | 1 |
| T3 | 🇦🇪 UAE | T5 | T1 | T4 | T3 | T1 | T2 | T2 | T2 | T2 | 2 | 4 | - |
| T4 | 🇦🇺 Australia | T5 | T3 | T4 | T4 | T2 | T3 | T3 | T4 | T4 | - | 1 | 3 |
| T4 | 🇨🇦 Canada | T5 | T3 | T5 | T4 | T3 | T3 | T3 | T3 | T4 | - | - | 5 |
| T4 | 🇫🇷 France | T3 | T2 | T2 | T4 | T2 | T5 | T1 | T3 | T3 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| T4 | 🇩🇪 Germany | T2 | T2 | T4 | T4 | T1 | T4 | T1 | T3 | T3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| T4 | 🇯🇵 Japan | T3 | T1 | T3 | T4 | T1 | T3 | T2 | T2 | T2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| T4 | 🇱🇮 Liechtenstein | T9 | T4 | T10 | T4 | T5 | T5 | T7 | T7 | T9 | - | - | - |
| T4 | 🇱🇺 Luxembourg | T7 | T3 | T7 | T4 | T2 | T3 | T4 | T4 | T5 | - | 1 | 2 |
| T4 | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | T4 | T3 | T3 | T4 | T2 | T4 | T1 | T4 | T4 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Figure 2. Human Capital Capabilities by Capability Group
| Capability | Top 5 | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Public Health and Wellness | ||
| Health access and coverage | 🇪🇪 🇸🇬 🇸🇪 🇳🇴 🇩🇰 | Universal health coverage and service accessibility |
| Healthcare workforce capacity | 🇸🇬 🇨🇠🇦🇪 🇰🇷 🇳🇴 | Medical professionals per capita and training |
| Population health outcomes | 🇸🇪 🇩🇰 🇸🇬 🇳🇴 🇫🇮 | Life expectancy and disease burden indicators |
| Primary and Secondary Education | ||
| Enrolment and completion | 🇫🇮 🇸🇬 🇰🇷 🇪🇪 🇳🇴 | School attendance and graduation rates |
| Equity and access | 🇩🇰 🇳🇴 🇸🇬 🇫🇮 🇸🇪 | Equal opportunity and inclusive education provision |
| Learning outcomes | 🇸🇬 🇫🇮 🇪🇪 🇰🇷 🇩🇰 | Student performance in international assessments |
| Vocational and Technical Skills | ||
| Industry placements and apprenticeships | 🇸🇬 🇩🇰 🇸🇪 🇫🇮 🇳🇱 | Work-integrated learning and apprenticeship systems |
| Vocational certification and recognition | 🇨🇠🇸🇬 🇰🇷 🇫🇮 🇪🇪 | Quality and recognition of vocational qualifications |
| Vocational participation rates | 🇨🇠🇦🇹 🇸🇬 🇩🇪 🇱🇮 | Enrolment in vocational education and training |
| Higher Education | ||
| Graduation and employability rates | 🇨🇠🇸🇬 🇫🇮 🇩🇰 🇳🇱 | University completion and labour market outcomes |
| Gross enrolment ratio | 🇸🇪 🇳🇱 🇸🇬 🇩🇰 🇫🇮 | Tertiary education participation rates |
| Research output and quality | 🇺🇸 🇨🇠🇮🇱 🇸🇪 🇸🇬 | Academic publications and research excellence |
| Research and Innovation | ||
| Research and development intensity | 🇨🇠🇮🇱 🇰🇷 🇺🇸 🇸🇪 | R&D expenditure as share of GDP |
| Research output | 🇺🇸 🇮🇱 🇸🇪 🇸🇬 🇨🇳 | Scientific publications and research impact |
| Research talent pipeline | 🇮🇱 🇨🇠🇺🇸 🇸🇬 🇨🇳 | PhD graduates and early-career researchers |
| Workforce Upskilling | ||
| Adult participation in lifelong learning | 🇸🇬 🇫🇮 🇩🇰 🇳🇴 🇸🇪 | Continuing education and professional development |
| Coverage of reskilling initiatives | 🇸🇬 🇩🇰 🇫🇮 🇳🇴 🇸🇪 | Access to retraining programmes and support |
| Employer investment in training | 🇨🇠🇩🇰 🇸🇬 🇸🇪 🇳🇴 | Corporate spending on employee development |
| Digital and AI Literacy | ||
| Advanced AI competence | 🇮🇱 🇸🇪 🇸🇬 🇪🇪 🇦🇪 | Workforce capability in advanced AI applications |
| Basic digital competence levels | 🇪🇪 🇫🇮 🇩🇰 🇸🇬 🇳🇴 | Foundational digital skills across the population |
| Digital access and usage | 🇪🇪 🇰🇷 🇸🇬 🇫🇮 🇸🇪 | Internet connectivity and digital technology adoption |
