
The competition for technological superiority and advantage is still ongoing. There is a new set of scores and rankings for national technological strength based on a one-of-a-kind fusion of evaluative metrics created by Global Finance in a year filled with advances in virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and green technology.
Let’s look at the countries that top the list of the most technologically advanced in the world:
South Korea:
Again, South Korea retains its position as the world’s technological leader. Its shopper electronic giants invested vigorously in technology, while its residents join progressed technological skills with an innovative culture. With Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore in the top 20, East Asia is well represented.
All 17 of the top 17 nations are among the wealthiest in one of those two regions, with the United States of America coming in at number two. Taiwan hopped up a couple of spots to #3, because of increasing interest into innovative work. Since before World War II, Germany has been known for its engineering prowess. Now, it is actively putting that knowledge to use in the field of green energy.
Small political jurisdictions that are less able to rely on abundant natural resources for economic power, like the Nordic countries, Belgium, Switzerland, and Japan, are many of the world’s leaders in technological innovation.
On the other hand, Japan (16) dropped a lot in the rankings because fewer people in the country are using the internet. Japan sports an eminent dependence on simple in the public sector, and furthermore declined in its Digital Competitiveness because of an absence of business mechanical deftness and declining global involvement with technology.
Despite government support, extensive scientific knowledge, and significant technological expertise in a variety of fields, the world’s two most populous developing nations, both of which were anticipated to see strong growth in technological progress, struggled in this year’s ranking.
China (#41) and India (#65) fell back in the rankings, regardless of winning insight that both would progress quickly. At 73%, China’s internet users still lag far behind its economic peers like Russia, Mexico, and Argentina or the most technologically advanced nations.
6th nation Israel, with its vigorous startup biological system, also gained essentially. The relatively small country continues to make significant investments in research and development (R&D). Life sciences, military technology, and other industries are booming in Israel, which is now the sixth largest hub in the world for raising technology capital. The UAE was a second Middle East champion, coming in at #18.
While China invests significantly into research & development for critical technologies, it lacks the ability to utilize its population for greater technological advancement. The Chinese government has also cracked down on the private technology sector, limiting and even reducing its reach and size.
Samsung’s New Research Facility Is A State-of-the-art Semiconductor Technology
India, for its part, has invested very little of its country’s GDP into research and development. While the establishment of the National Research Foundation is designed to help increase investment and support for technological and scientific education and advancement, it may not play the pivotal role that India desires.
To round it off, Brazil (55), Indonesia (59), and Russia (44) all continue to rank poorly and have made few if any gains in technological strength. Russia scores above average only in its percentage of population that uses the internet. The war with Ukraine has spurred an exodus of technological expertise, creating potential for a “brain drain” of technological and scientific professionals for years to come.
How The Ranking Metrics Is Done:
Global Finance incorporate two metrics that represent the technological breadth and adoption for a country: internet users as a percentage of a country’s population, and LTE (4G) users as a percentage of the population. This combination illustrates the availability of internet use for the wider population and counters the over-reliance on measuring the strength of only high-tech industries and institutions.
The third metric is a Digital Competitiveness Score, created and compiled by the IMD World Competitiveness Center. This conglomeration is based on multiple factors including technological knowledge, current technological strength, and readiness/capability to create and advance new innovations. Essentially, it measures a country’s current technological environment and its prospects for future success.
The final metric is the portion of GDP spent on research and development (R&D), which represents both the government’s investment into the future technological development as well as the desire to compete for future advancement. All of these metrics combine to rank countries by both their vanguard of technological capabilities but also their populations’ mastery of said technologies.
The scores provide some insights into where countries differentiate themselves from those below them. As opposed to one year ago, the differences are now more pronounced in the Digital Competitiveness Score and the Research & Development investment. These factors have seen increasing breadth between the top countries and the bottom countries.
Meanwhile, the differences between the top countries and bottom countries have decreased in both LTE penetration and Internet users as a percent of the population. This makes sense as once a country expands its internet and LTE base to nearly 100%, it is impossible to keep going up. Meanwhile, developing countries can gain ground by expanding their internet access.
Below is Global Finance 2023 Ranking of the World’s Most Technologically Advanced Countries And Territories
Ranking Country and Composite Score:
1 South Korea 6.63
2 United States 4.94
3 Taiwan 4.90
4 Denmark 4.79
5 Switzerland 4.68
6 Israel 4.10
7 Finland 3.94
8 Netherlands 3.79
9 Sweden 3.76
10 Norway 3.59
11 Singapore 3.50
12 United Kingdom 3.49
13 Belgium 3.42
14 Germany 3.25
15 Austria 2.99
16 Japan 2.97
17 Iceland 2.97
18 United Arab Emirates 2.88
19 Canada 2.54
20 Australia 2.29
21 Hong Kong SAR 2.26
22 Estonia 2.11
23 France 1.42
24 Qatar 1.38
25 Czech Republic 0.89
26 Slovenia 0.89
27 Lithuania 0.89
28 Spain 0.71
29 Bahrain 0.61
30 Luxembourg 0.53
31 New Zealand 0.47
32 Hungary 0.31
33 Malaysia 0.26
34 Latvia 0.10
35 Cyprus -0.05
36 Ireland -0.21
37 Portugal -0.22
38 China -0.23
39 Saudi Arabia -0.31
40 Poland -0.39
41 Slovak Republic -0.72
42 Italy -0.85
43 Thailand -0.98
44 Russia -0.99
45 Croatia -1.23
46 Greece -1.59
47 Romania -1.90
48 Bulgaria -2.38
49 Kazakhstan -2.40
50 Turkey -2.56
51 Chile -2.76
52 Argentina -3.34
53 South Africa -3.54
54 Jordan -3.67
55 Brazil -3.81
56 Mexico -4.48
57 Ukraine -4.49
58 Botswana -4.56
59 Indonesia -5.06
60 Mongolia -5.07
61 Peru -5.20
62 India -5.38
63 Phillippines -5.77
64 Colombia -6.15
65 Venezuela -7.95
Credit: Global Finance Magazine
Global Finance ranks the world’s countries by their technological advancement and capacity to develop and leverage cutting-edge technology.