2025 National Capability Ratings
A dynamic snapshot of national capability across hard, soft, and economic power, tracking emerging strengths and strategic resilience.
This page presents an experimental prototype crafted to stimulate further research and analysis into how nations accrue and project national capability. Designed as a dynamic snapshot of hard, soft, and economic power, this prototype is intentionally preliminary—its real value lies in the pathways it opens for deeper inquiry, methodological refinement, and comparative study across eras and contexts.
The rating system underpinning this prototype is structured to remain stable within each five-year cycle, offering absolute assessments that allow for clear benchmarking over time, while simultaneously being designed for periodic updates every five years to ensure the rubric evolves in step with geopolitical, technological, and institutional transformations. This approach balances the need for consistency with the imperative to reflect the changing nature of capability. In future cycles, the framework can meaningfully assess extremes—from the Roman Empire’s centralized imperium to the multipolar world of today—by maintaining absolute standards within each period and adjusting relative metrics every half-decade to stay relevant and analytically robust.
Capabilities
The nine capability blocks are structured to capture the full spectrum of national capability in a way that is both comprehensive and analytically distinct, ensuring no single dimension overshadows the others. Each block represents a core domain—ranging from governance and human capital to information influence and strategic industries—selected for its enduring relevance across history and its measurable impact on a nation’s capacity to act in the world. This arrangement reflects a deliberate balance between hard, soft, and economic capabilities, enabling comparisons that are valid across different time periods, from ancient empires to the complex, multipolar system of today. By organising the framework in this way, the assessment avoids duplication, maintains clarity, and supports a coherent, repeatable methodology for evaluating national strength.
| Area | Code | Name | Short Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hard | CT | Critical Technology | Capacity to design, produce, and secure critical dual-use tech like AI, semiconductors, quantum, and advanced materials. |
| Hard | SI | Strategic Infrastructure | Core systems supporting mobilization, deployment, digital networks, and resilient supply chains. |
| Hard | NS | National Security | Ability to wage and deter conflict across land, sea, air, cyber, and space domains, including nuclear and hypersonic deterrents. |
| Soft | HC | Human Capital | Education, health, skills, and global talent flows supporting productivity and cultural influence. |
| Soft | II | Information & Influence | Power to shape global narratives through media, culture, diplomacy, and digital platforms. |
| Soft | GI | Governance & Integrity | Institutional legitimacy, leadership, rule of law, and ability to maintain domestic and international trust. |
| Economic | FS | Financial Strength | Fiscal and monetary strength, currency credibility, and ability to absorb shocks and fund national goals. |
| Economic | PI | Production & Innovation | Industrial capacity and innovation in strategic sectors with control of value chains and R&D outcomes. |
| Economic | IT | Investment & Trade | Global economic connectivity through exports, FDI, agreements, and financial integration. |
Ratings
The ratings presented here are experimental prototypes, intended as a testing ground for concepts, metrics, and analytical approaches rather than definitive judgments. They provide an initial view of how national capability might be quantified and compared, offering a foundation for debate, refinement, and methodological evolution. While grounded in structured rubrics, these assessments should be seen as illustrative snapshots—subject to revision as new data, perspectives, and analytical techniques emerge. Their primary purpose is to provoke discussion, identify gaps, and guide the development of more robust, enduring rating systems in future cycles.
| Country | TTL | CT | SI | NS | HC | II | GI | FS | PI | TI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 United States | A | A | A | A | A | A | B | A | A | A |
| 🇸🇪 Sweden | A- | B | A | B | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| 🇨🇭 Switzerland | A- | B | A | B | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| 🇸🇬 Singapore | A- | A | A | B | A | B | A | A | A | A |
| 🇳🇱 Netherlands | A- | A | A | B | A | B | A | A | A | A |
| 🇨🇳 China | A- | A | A | A | A | A | B | B | A | A |
| 🇩🇰 Denmark | A- | B | A | B | A | B | A | A | A | A |
| 🇹🇼 Taiwan | A- | A | B | B | B | B | A | A | A | A |
| 🇩🇪 Germany | A- | B | A | B | A | B | A | B | A | A |
| 🇫🇮 Finland | A- | B | A | B | A | B | A | A | B | A |
| 🇳🇴 Norway | A- | B | A | B | A | B | A | A | B | A |
| 🇯🇵 Japan | B+ | A | A | C | B | B | A | B | A | A |
| 🇰🇷 South Korea | B+ | A | A | C | A | B | B | B | A | A |
| 🇫🇷 France | B+ | B | B | B | A | B | A | B | B | A |
| 🇮🇱 Israel | B+ | A | B | A | A | B | B | B | A | B |
| 🇦🇺 Australia | B+ | B | B | B | A | B | A | A | B | B |
| 🇨🇦 Canada | B+ | B | B | B | A | B | A | A | B | B |
| 🇦🇹 Austria | B+ | B | A | B | A | B | A | B | B | B |
| 🇧🇪 Belgium | B+ | B | A | B | B | B | B | B | B | A |
| 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | B+ | B | B | B | A | B | B | A | B | B |
| 🇶🇦 Qatar | B | C | A | B | B | B | B | A | C | A |
| 🇦🇪 UAE | B | B | A | C | B | B | B | A | B | B |
| 🇮🇹 Italy | B | B | B | B | B | A | B | B | B | B |
| 🇪🇸 Spain | B | B | B | B | B | A | B | B | B | B |
| 🇮🇳 India | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | B |
| 🇨🇿 Czech Republic | B | B | B | B | B | C | B | B | B | B |
| 🇨🇱 Chile | B- | C | B | C | B | B | B | B | B | B |
| 🇵🇱 Poland | B- | B | B | B | B | C | C | B | B | B |
| 🇲🇾 Malaysia | B- | B | B | C | B | C | C | B | B | B |
| 🇷🇴 Romania | B- | C | B | B | B | C | C | C | B | B |
| 🇭🇺 Hungary | B- | C | B | B | B | C | C | C | B | B |
| 🇹🇭 Thailand | C+ | C | B | C | C | B | C | C | B | B |
| 🇺🇦 Ukraine | C+ | B | C | B | C | B | C | C | C | C |
| 🇪🇬 Egypt | C+ | D | B | B | C | C | C | C | C | B |
| 🇷🇺 Russia | C+ | C | C | B | C | B | C | C | C | C |
| 🇮🇷 Iran | C+ | C | C | B | B | C | C | C | C | C |
| 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan | C | D | C | C | C | B | C | C | C | B |
| 🇲🇽 Mexico | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | B |
| 🇻🇳 Vietnam | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | B |
| 🇧🇬 Bulgaria | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | B |
| 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | C | D | B | C | C | C | C | B | C | C |
| 🇹🇷 Turkey | C | C | C | B | C | C | C | C | C | C |
| 🇵🇭 Philippines | C | D | C | C | C | B | C | C | C | C |
| 🇧🇷 Brazil | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C |
| 🇮🇩 Indonesia | C | D | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C |
| 🇿🇦 South Africa | C | D | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C |
| 🇵🇪 Peru | C | D | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C |
| 🇰🇪 Kenya | C | D | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C |
| 🇳🇬 Nigeria | C- | D | D | C | C | C | D | C | C | C |
| 🇦🇷 Argentina | C- | D | C | C | C | C | D | D | C | C |
