Trade and Investment: 2026 National Capability Ratings
Figure 1. Top 25 Nations: Trade and Investment Capability Frontier
| Trade & Investment | Hard Capability | Soft Capability | Econ Capability | Frontiers | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tier | Nation | CT | SI | NS | HC | II | GI | FS | PI | TI | T1 | T2 | T3 |
| T1 | ๐ช๐ช Estonia | T7 | T3 | T5 | T1 | T2 | T1 | T3 | T2 | T1 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| T1 | ๐ฎ๐ฑ Israel | T2 | T2 | T1 | T1 | T2 | T1 | T3 | T1 | T1 | 5 | 3 | 1 |
| T1 | ๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore | T4 | T1 | T4 | T1 | T1 | T1 | T1 | T1 | T1 | 7 | - | - |
| T1 | ๐ฐ๐ท South Korea | T2 | T1 | T3 | T2 | T1 | T2 | T2 | T1 | T1 | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| T1 | ๐บ๐ธ United States | T1 | T1 | T1 | T1 | T1 | T3 | T1 | T1 | T1 | 8 | - | 1 |
| T2 | ๐จ๐ณ China | T2 | T1 | T2 | T3 | T2 | T4 | T3 | T2 | T2 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| T2 | ๐ฉ๐ฐ Denmark | T5 | T2 | T5 | T2 | T1 | T1 | T2 | T2 | T2 | 2 | 5 | - |
| T2 | ๐ฏ๐ต Japan | T3 | T1 | T3 | T4 | T1 | T3 | T2 | T2 | T2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| T2 | ๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands | T2 | T1 | T4 | T3 | T1 | T2 | T2 | T2 | T2 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| T2 | ๐ธ๐ช Sweden | T2 | T1 | T4 | T2 | T1 | T1 | T1 | T1 | T2 | 5 | 3 | - |
| T2 | ๐น๐ผ Taiwan | T6 | T4 | T5 | T5 | T3 | T4 | T4 | T2 | T2 | - | 2 | 1 |
| T2 | ๐ฆ๐ช UAE | T5 | T1 | T4 | T4 | T1 | T2 | T2 | T2 | T2 | 2 | 4 | - |
| T3 | ๐ซ๐ฎ Finland | T4 | T1 | T5 | T2 | T1 | T1 | T3 | T2 | T3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| T3 | ๐ซ๐ท France | T3 | T2 | T2 | T4 | T2 | T5 | T1 | T3 | T3 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| T3 | ๐ฉ๐ช Germany | T2 | T2 | T4 | T4 | T1 | T4 | T1 | T3 | T3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| T3 | ๐ฎ๐ช Ireland | T5 | T3 | T8 | T5 | T2 | T4 | T4 | T3 | T3 | - | 1 | 3 |
| T3 | ๐ณ๐ด Norway | T4 | T1 | T4 | T3 | T1 | T1 | T2 | T3 | T3 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| T4 | ๐ฆ๐บ Australia | T5 | T3 | T4 | T4 | T2 | T3 | T3 | T4 | T4 | - | 1 | 3 |
| T4 | ๐จ๐ฆ Canada | T5 | T3 | T5 | T4 | T3 | T3 | T3 | T3 | T4 | - | - | 5 |
| T4 | ๐ง๐ช Belgium | T5 | T3 | T5 | T5 | T4 | T5 | T4 | T3 | T4 | - | - | 2 |
| T4 | ๐ฆ๐น Austria | T5 | T3 | T6 | T3 | T3 | T4 | T4 | T4 | T4 | - | - | 3 |
| T4 | ๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom | T4 | T3 | T3 | T4 | T2 | T4 | T1 | T4 | T4 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Figure 2. Trade and Investment Capabilities by Capability Group
| Capability | Top 5 | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Digital Trade and Services | ||
| Cross-border data flows | ๐ช๐ช ๐ธ๐ฌ ๐ธ๐ช ๐บ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ฑ | International data transfer infrastructure and regulation |
| E-commerce and digital platforms | ๐ธ๐ช ๐ธ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ณ ๐ช๐ช ๐บ๐ธ | Online marketplace development and digital commerce |
| Services trade and intangibles | ๐บ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฌ ๐ธ๐ช ๐ช๐ช ๐จ๐ญ | Cross-border services and intellectual property trade |
| Export Competitiveness | ||
| Cost and price competitiveness | ๐บ๐ธ ๐ฐ๐ท ๐ธ๐ฌ ๐ธ๐ช ๐ธ๐ง | Export pricing advantages and production efficiency |
| Market diversification | ๐ธ๐ฌ ๐ณ๐ฑ ๐ธ๐ช ๐บ๐ธ ๐ฉ๐ฐ | Geographic spread of export destinations |
| Scale and market share | ๐จ๐ณ ๐บ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ท ๐ณ๐ฑ | Volume of exports and global market position |
| Export Sophistication | ||
| High-tech export share | ๐บ๐ธ ๐น๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ท ๐ธ๐ช | Advanced technology products in export basket |
| Knowledge-intensive exports | ๐บ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ธ๐ฌ ๐ธ๐ช ๐จ๐ญ | Research-based and IP-intensive goods and services |
| Upgrading of export basket | ๐จ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ธ๐ฌ ๐บ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ช | Shift towards higher value-added products |
| Foreign Direct and Domestic Investment | ||
| Domestic capital formation | ๐ธ๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ช ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ท ๐ธ๐ช | Investment in productive capacity and infrastructure |
| FDI inflows and outflows | ๐บ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ญ ๐ณ๐ฑ ๐ธ๐ช | Foreign direct investment volumes and stocks |
| Investment climate and incentives | ๐ธ๐ฌ ๐ช๐ช ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐บ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ช | Regulatory environment and investment promotion |
| Global Value Chains | ||
| Global value chain position | ๐ธ๐ง ๐น๐ผ ๐ธ๐ช ๐ณ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฌ | Position in international production networks |
| Integration with regional hubs | ๐ธ๐ฌ ๐ณ๐ฑ ๐จ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ช ๐ฐ๐ท | Connectivity to major regional production centres |
| Participation in global production networks | ๐ธ๐ฌ ๐น๐ผ ๐บ๐ธ ๐จ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ท | Involvement in cross-border manufacturing chains |
| Trade Dependency and Leverage | ||
| Export concentration risks | ๐ธ๐ฌ ๐บ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ช ๐จ๐ญ ๐ณ๐ฑ | Diversification of export products and partners |
| Import dependency in strategic sectors | ๐บ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ช ๐ธ๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฉ๐ฐ | Reliance on foreign sources for critical inputs |
| Trade leverage and strategic influence | ๐บ๐ธ ๐จ๐ฑ ๐จ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ฑ | Economic power derived from trade relationships |
| Trade Infrastructure | ||
| Logistics and customs efficiency | ๐ธ๐ฌ ๐ณ๐ฑ ๐ฆ๐ช ๐ช๐ช ๐ฐ๐ท | Speed and reliability of customs clearance processes |
| Ports and shipping capacity | ๐ธ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฑ ๐ฆ๐ช ๐ฐ๐ท | Maritime infrastructure and cargo handling capability |
| Transport connectivity networks | ๐ธ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ท ๐จ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฑ | Multimodal transport links and logistics networks |
| Trade Policy and Institutions | ||
| Tariff and non-tariff regimes | ๐ธ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ญ ๐บ๐ธ ๐ฆ๐ช ๐ฐ๐ท | Trade barriers and market access restrictions |
| Trade agreements and memberships | ๐ธ๐ฌ ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ท ๐บ๐ธ ๐ฆ๐บ | Participation in bilateral and multilateral trade pacts |
| Trade institutional quality and enforcement | ๐ธ๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ช ๐ณ๐ด ๐ช๐ช | Effectiveness of trade governance and dispute resolution |
