Singapore Takes Top Spot in Global Talent Competitiveness as AI and Soft Skills Recast the Race

Why Singapore tops the talent race in 2025

Singapore has reached a new milestone in the 2025 Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI), taking first place among 135 economies for the first time since the index began in 2013. The ranking, produced by INSEAD in partnership with the Portulans Institute, assesses how well countries enable, attract, grow and retain talent, and the strength of both vocational and technical skills and broad adaptive skills. Singapore moved ahead of long time leader Switzerland, with Denmark in third, after a year in which the index placed even greater weight on the qualities that help societies weather disruption, from artificial intelligence to geopolitics.

In 2025 the GTCI introduced new variables that reflect the modern labor market, including measures of AI adoption, soft skills and employee well being. Independent testing by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission supports the statistical soundness of the model, which uses 77 indicators and covers economies that account for more than 97 percent of global output and 93 percent of the world population. Singapore ranked first worldwide in generalist adaptive skills, a dimension that captures digital literacy, social and collaborative skills, cross disciplinary thinking and the capacity to innovate under pressure. It also improved its ability to retain talent, climbing seven places to number 31, with stronger scores in personal rights, physician density and personal safety. High income European economies still occupy most of the top tier, the United States slipped to ninth, and Australia and New Zealand outperformed Singapore on retention but trailed in adaptive skills. China fell to 53rd, reflecting a weaker business climate and labor market. The report also highlights economies that turn modest inputs into strong outcomes, and cites Singapore, South Korea and Israel as examples of this efficiency based approach.

What the GTCI measures and why the model changed

At its core the GTCI looks at the systems that allow people to develop skills, match to opportunity and build careers. The six pillars measure the policy and regulatory environment that enables talent, a country’s ability to attract people and investment, the educational and training engines that grow skills, the conditions that retain talent at home, and two skill clusters, vocational and technical skills and generalist adaptive skills.

The 2025 edition opens a new chapter for the index. INSEAD began a formal partnership with the Portulans Institute, which brings deep expertise building global policy benchmarks on innovation and connectivity. The theme of the year is resilience in the age of disruption, and the refreshed model aligns to that idea. New indicators capture how societies absorb AI into work, how employers support worker well being and how much soft skills permeate the workforce. These adaptive capabilities, the capacity to collaborate, learn across fields, use digital tools wisely and stay creative under stress, are the qualities that increasingly separate talent ecosystems.

For readers who want to explore the full data and methodology, the official overview of the index is available on the INSEAD website at GTCI 2025.

Who leads the 2025 leaderboard

Seven of the top ten positions still go to European economies, yet the top slot has a new holder. The ten highest ranked economies in 2025 are Singapore, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, the United States and Australia.

Beyond the top ten, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Iceland, Canada, Belgium, Austria, Germany, New Zealand, France and the Czech Republic complete the top twenty. Europe retains 18 of the first 25 positions, a sign of long standing institutional strength, high standards of living and sustained investment in education and skills.

How Singapore climbed to number one

Singapore’s rise reflects steady gains on retention combined with enduring strengths in the fundamentals. The city state recorded higher scores in personal rights, physician density and personal safety, moving seven places to 31st on the retain pillar. It also leads the world in generalist adaptive skills, an assessment that reflects a workforce at ease with digital tools, comfortable working across disciplines and trained to solve problems creatively. The index places Singapore first in formal education and in the regulatory landscape metrics, two foundations that shape a high quality talent ecosystem.

Policy design and execution play a central part. Lifelong learning programs such as SkillsFuture give workers a way to refresh skills as technology advances, while targeted sector plans and public private cooperation help align education and training with employer demand. Secondments that rotate public servants into private sector roles, and vice versa, help share practices across institutions and keep policy grounded in the reality of industry needs.

Felipe Monteiro, the GTCI Academic Director, framed the moment as a test of resilience and adaptation for countries and companies alike.

“True resilience in talent is turning adversity into a catalyst for innovation, adaptability and renewed purpose. Resilience means learning how to bounce forward, not just bounce back from inevitable shocks and crises.”

That view fits Singapore’s trajectory. The government has invested in digital infrastructure, maintained a predictable regulatory framework and backed an education system that evolves with industry. The private sector, from global technology firms to local small enterprises, taps a multilingual labor pool with high digital fluency. The result is a talent market that can adapt to AI infused workflows while keeping international appeal.

AI, soft skills and worker well being move center stage

The 2025 redesign gives more visibility to the qualities that help humans thrive in a tech driven economy. The AI indicators look at the presence of AI skills, adoption patterns and diffusion of related technologies. Soft skills include communication, teamwork, problem solving and critical thinking. Employee well being covers areas such as health access, safety and job quality. The idea is simple, a society that protects people and builds broad capability can absorb rapid change with less dislocation.

Generalist adaptive skills do not replace vocational and technical skills. They complement them. Countries that combine high quality apprenticeships and technical training with digital literacy and collaborative capability tend to bounce back faster from shocks and convert disruption into new products, services and jobs. Singapore ranked first in the adaptive skills dimension, while still scoring highly in formal education and in vocational measures.

Lily Fang, who leads research and innovation at INSEAD, has argued that leaders need thoughtful approaches to integrate powerful technologies like AI with human progress. That means investment in tools alongside investment in people, so the gains from technology are broadly shared.

Regional picture beyond Singapore

Europe remains the strongest performing region by share of top ranked countries. The Nordic cluster excels on active labor market policies, social protections and education systems that help people retrain. The United States slipped to ninth from third in 2023 after slight declines in openness and lifelong learning. It still scores well on growing talent and on vocational skills, yet the pressure to widen access to lifelong learning is rising.

In Asia and Oceania, Australia and New Zealand achieved better retention results than Singapore, supported by quality of life and lifestyle attractions, while they trailed Singapore on adaptive skills. China dropped to 53rd from 40th, reflecting a less favorable business climate and labor market conditions, with data gaps also a factor in the assessment. Across North Africa and Western Asia, Israel leads, and in Latin America and the Caribbean, Chile is first.

An important finding is the efficiency story, the ability to deliver strong talent outcomes with limited inputs. Singapore, South Korea and Israel stand out on this measure. Several lower middle income economies, among them Tajikistan, Kenya, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Pakistan and Bangladesh, also show progress. Some low income countries, including Rwanda, have laid useful foundations for future skills development.

What the ranking means for employers and workers

The GTCI is a diagnostic rather than a forecast. For employers, the 2025 results point to a premium on adaptability. Companies that invest in continuous learning, use AI to augment rather than replace work where possible, and build teams with a mix of technical and human skills are better placed to hire and keep talent. In Singapore, that could translate into broader use of microcredentials, closer links between firms and institutes of higher learning, and clearer career pathways that reward upskilling.

For workers, the message is practical. Digital fluency, communication, teamwork and critical thinking raise employability across many roles. Familiarity with AI tools, even at a basic level, is becoming a baseline. In a labor market that prizes adaptability, people who practice lifelong learning and seek cross functional projects tend to gain mobility and resilience.

Policymakers can take several cues from the index. A predictable regulatory landscape and personal safety attract skilled migrants. Health capacity, reflected in metrics such as physician density, supports worker well being and retention. Programs that align education with industry demand, and that help workers pivot to new tasks as technology changes jobs, make a measurable difference.

Methodology and reading the rankings

The GTCI compiles 77 indicators across six pillars, blending international datasets with survey results. Each year the model goes through independent statistical checks, and the 2025 coverage spans 135 economies that together account for almost the entire global economy. No single score can capture the full complexity of labor markets, yet the index offers a consistent frame to compare systems and to spot change over time.

Different rankings use different lenses. The IMD World Talent Ranking, for example, looks at investment and development, appeal and readiness for 69 economies and often produces different placements for specific cities and countries. This does not contradict the GTCI. It reflects varied methods, time frames and indicator sets. Policymakers and employers often read several benchmarks together to build a complete picture.

Key Points

• Singapore ranks first in the 2025 Global Talent Competitiveness Index, ahead of Switzerland and Denmark.
• The index evaluates 135 economies on 77 indicators across six pillars, with a refreshed model that tracks AI adoption, soft skills and employee well being.
• Singapore leads in generalist adaptive skills and improved retention by seven places to 31st, with gains in personal rights, physician density and safety.
• High income European economies hold seven of the top ten spots, while the United States slips to ninth.
• Australia and New Zealand score higher than Singapore on retention but trail on adaptive skills.
• China falls to 53rd, citing a weaker business climate and labor market, with data gaps also noted.
• Israel leads North Africa and Western Asia, and Chile leads Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Countries that convert limited inputs into strong talent outcomes, including Singapore, South Korea and Israel, gain advantage in the talent race.