Singapore edges ahead in the race for talent
Singapore has moved into first place in the 2025 Global Talent Competitiveness Index, overtaking Switzerland after a decade at the top. The index, produced by business school INSEAD with the Portulans Institute, ranks 135 economies on 77 indicators that measure how countries enable, attract, grow and retain talent, and the strength of vocational and generalist skills. The 2025 theme, resilience in an age of disruption, reflects a world where artificial intelligence, geopolitics and social change are reshaping how people learn and work.
This is the first time since the index began in 2013 that Switzerland is not number one. Denmark is third, followed by Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, the United States and Australia. Europe accounts for the majority of the top 25 positions. The report was paused in 2024 to strengthen methods, then relaunched in 2025 with a deeper model and new variables that capture soft skills, AI adoption and employee well being. Each edition is audited by the European Commission Joint Research Centre, and together the countries covered represent more than 97 percent of global GDP and 93 percent of the world population.
Singapore’s rise reflects gains in both capabilities and outcomes. The city state leads the world in generalist adaptive skills, a measure that captures soft skills, digital literacy and innovation minded thinking. Singapore also moved up seven places on talent retention to number 31, supported by improvements in personal rights and physician density, and by consistent leadership in personal safety. Formal education quality and a supportive regulatory landscape add to its advantage in building an adaptive, innovation driven workforce.
What the index measures and what changed in 2025
The Global Talent Competitiveness Index is designed to help leaders understand how talent ecosystems perform and where investment can have the greatest impact. It assembles a wide set of statistics and surveys to track the full talent journey, from enabling conditions to skills outcomes and career mobility.
The six pillars
Enable evaluates institutions, regulation, market openness and infrastructure. Attract gauges a country’s pull for both local and foreign talent. Grow tracks education, training and lifelong learning. Retain assesses quality of life, rights, social protection and health services. Vocational and technical skills focus on job ready capabilities. Generalist adaptive skills measure broad abilities such as communication, collaboration, problem solving and digital fluency.
New variables for the AI era
To reflect rapid workplace change in 2025, the index adds measures of AI capability and adoption, soft skills, employee well being and workforce resilience. These variables help capture how countries prepare people to work with intelligent tools and navigate change. The refreshed model, developed with the Portulans Institute, retains continuity while raising analytical depth. The full methodology and results are available from INSEAD’s official GTCI page here.
Why Singapore rose to number one
Singapore’s model blends steady investment in education with nimble policy and active collaboration across government, industry and schools. The system sets clear goals for skills development, then constantly updates curricula and programs to track shifting demand. The approach aims to give people both depth and breadth, so they can move across roles, work with new technology and respond to shocks without losing momentum.
Education and skills
Singapore ranks first globally for generalist adaptive skills. This pillar values broad capabilities that travel well across jobs, such as communication, teamwork, problem solving and digital literacy. The country’s formal education rank is also among the best, reflecting strong outcomes in basic education, a high share of graduates in science and technology, and a network of polytechnics and universities closely linked to industry. Adult learning is a central feature. SkillsFuture credits support continuous upskilling, and work based programs help mid career workers pivot into growth roles tied to data, software, advanced manufacturing and healthcare.
Retention and quality of life
Talent retention has long been a pressure point for fast growing hubs. Singapore’s position on this dimension improved by seven places to 31. Gains in personal rights and physician density, combined with world leading personal safety, strengthened its score. The quality of public services, ease of mobility and a dense job market also help. Cost of living remains a challenge for some workers and firms, and the index shows that Australia and New Zealand currently outscore Singapore in retention. Even so, the trend line is positive, and points to a broader focus on well being, family support and health capacity.
Policy coherence and openness
Beyond education and services, Singapore benefits from a predictable regulatory landscape that gives employers confidence to invest and expand. Targeted pathways have attracted experienced professionals and founders in fields like technology, finance and biomedical science, while secondments and public private exchanges help move skills across sectors. The result is a talent ecosystem that is both open and disciplined, pairing international reach with strong local capability building.
Winners, fallers and regional shifts
The top of the table is still anchored by high income European economies. After Singapore and Switzerland, the next positions are Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, the United States and Australia. Europe holds 18 of the top 25 slots, driven by strong institutions and inclusive labor markets that support skills development and mobility.
The United States, third in 2023, slipped to ninth. The drop reflects weaker performance in generalist adaptive skills, where it moved from fifth to 13th, and softer outcomes in attractiveness and enabling conditions. The United States continues to score well for growing talent and for vocational and technical skills, backed by world class universities, research centers and a deep ecosystem of employers. The message is that breadth of skills and openness matter as much as depth of technical prowess.
China fell from 40th to 53rd. The index links this shift to a less favorable business climate and labor market conditions. The report also cautions that limited data availability influenced the reading, which means future measurements could change if transparency improves. The rest of Asia and Oceania is mixed. Australia and New Zealand top Singapore for talent retention, yet both trail in generalist adaptive skills where Singapore leads.
Across regions, several countries stand out for turning modest inputs into strong outcomes. Israel and South Korea are in this group, along with Singapore. Lower middle income performers such as Tajikistan, Kenya, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Pakistan and Bangladesh also show that talent efficiency is possible when policies align across education, labor and innovation. In North Africa and Western Asia, Israel leads the region while the United Arab Emirates excels in attracting talent and developing skills. In Latin America and the Caribbean, Chile leads the region, followed by Uruguay and Costa Rica.
Efficiency outliers and the middle income plateau
The 2025 report observes a pattern of outperformance at both ends of the income spectrum. Some smaller economies convert targeted investments into quick gains in skills and openness. At the same time, many upper middle income economies do not feature among the most dynamic movers. The authors describe a talent plateau that can appear when income grows faster than institutional and educational reform. Closing that gap requires coordination across ministries and ongoing ties with employers, so that new resources translate into real capability in the workforce.
What it means for employers and workers
For business leaders, Singapore’s new ranking signals a deeper pool of adaptable talent and a stable policy setting for planning. For workers, it reinforces where demand is headed. Breadth is now a premium. Teams need people who can blend technical know how with communication, data literacy and the judgment to use AI responsibly. The city state’s adult learning infrastructure makes career pivots more practical, and the market rewards people who keep learning.
For employers
- Build cross functional training that pairs AI tools with human skills like problem solving, client engagement and ethics.
- Use skills based hiring for mid career roles, not only degree based screening.
- Invest in manager training. Good management is one of the strongest predictors of team productivity and retention.
- Partner with polytechnics and universities on applied projects that create job ready experience for students and reskilling workers.
- Offer flexible work options where possible to expand your hiring pool and boost retention.
For workers
- Strengthen generalist adaptive skills. Communication, collaboration and critical thinking raise your value across many roles.
- Develop AI literacy. You do not need to build models to benefit from them, but you need to know how to use them, question them and measure value.
- Keep a learning habit. Use SkillsFuture credits or employer programs to add one new tool or credential each year.
- Stay open to lateral moves. Moving across functions can accelerate growth and expand your options when markets shift.
How GTCI compares with other rankings
GTCI zeroes in on talent systems, while other indices take a broader economic lens. In the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking 2025, Singapore placed second behind Switzerland, which aligns with the view that both economies are near the frontier on business climate and productivity. IMD also publishes a World Talent Ranking that uses a different approach and country coverage. Results can differ across indices because they track distinct indicators and definitions. The common thread is that talent, skills and resilience are now central to national advantage.
Looking ahead, the GTCI team plans to turn the report into a continuous intelligence system called the Talent and Competitiveness Monitor. That would allow more frequent updates and richer tools for decision makers. For now, the 2025 edition sets a clear marker. Countries that cultivate adaptable, AI literate workforces, while protecting rights and investing in health and education, are better placed to turn disruption into opportunity.
Highlights
- Singapore is number one in the 2025 Global Talent Competitiveness Index, its first time at the top.
- Switzerland is second, followed by Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, the United States and Australia.
- Singapore leads the world in generalist adaptive skills and improved to 31st on talent retention.
- The index covers 135 economies and 77 indicators across six pillars and added new measures for AI, soft skills and well being.
- Europe holds 18 of the top 25 positions.
- The United States fell from third to ninth after weaker scores in generalist adaptive skills and openness, while remaining strong in talent growth and vocational skills.
- China slipped to 53rd amid a less favorable business climate and limited data availability.
- Israel, South Korea and several lower middle income countries outperformed on efficiency, converting limited inputs into solid outcomes.
- Australia and New Zealand surpass Singapore on retention, but trail it on adaptive skills.
- The GTCI 2025 theme focuses on resilience, with a growing emphasis on AI capability, soft skills and workforce well being.
