List of countries by economic complexity

This list orders countries by their economic complexity index (ECI), as it was defined and calculated by Cesar A. Hidalgo and Ricardo Hausmann. The ECI was calculated with trade data from the UN Comtrade,[1] the United Nations International Trade Statistics Database,[2] and so the information is only based on exports, not goods produced. The 2009 rankings includes Products Exports Treemaps, also built by the Observatory of Economic Complexity.

Map and Scatterplot of Countries by Economic Complexity

2017 rankings
RankCountry/TerritoryECI
1 Japan2.28
2  Switzerland2.14
3 South Korea2.05
4 Germany2.02
5 Singapore1.81
6 Czech Republic1.79
7 Austria1.71
8 Finland1.69
9 Sweden1.67
10 Hungary1.64
11 Slovenia1.57
12 United States1.47
13 Italy1.42
14 United Kingdom1.42
15 Slovakia1.41
16 France1.40
17 Ireland1.39
18 Israel1.37
19 China1.30
20 Mexico1.27
21 Poland1.19
22 Denmark1.18
23 Belgium1.16
24 Romania1.16
25 Thailand1.15
Source: Atlas of Economic Complexity, Harvard University

The list is incomplete and only includes the top 25 out of 133 countries.

2016 rankings
RankCountry/TerritoryECI
1 Japan2.229
2  Switzerland2.054
3 Germany1.956
4 South Korea1.799
5 Sweden1.755
6 Singapore1.716
7 Austria1.612
8 United Kingdom1.593
9 United States1.581
10 Czech Republic1.577
11 Finland1.555
12 Slovenia1.447
13 Ireland1.444
14 France1.350
15 Hungary1.300
16 Slovakia1.284
17 Denmark1.236
18 Belgium1.219
19 Italy1.214
20 Israel1.186
21 Poland1.147
22 Netherlands1.107
23 Norway1.034
24 Estonia1.029
25 Mexico0.933
Source: Observatory of Economic Complexity, MIT

The list is incomplete and only includes the top 25 out of 126 countries.

2014 rankings
RankCountry/TerritoryECIECI Change over 2013Rank Change over 2013
1 Japan2.25 0.04
2  Switzerland2.10 0.06
3 Germany2.05 0.1
4 Sweden1.89 0.06
5 United States1.80 0.22 6
6 South Korea1.74 0.04 1
7 Finland1.74 0.1 1
8 Singapore1.73 0.1 2
9 Czech Republic1.70 0.01 3
10 Austria1.65 0.01 1
11 Brazil1.62 0.04 12
12 United Kingdom1.60 0.12 6
13 Slovenia1.50 0.06
14 France1.46 0.01
15 Hungary1.43 0.09 1
16 Netherlands1.37 0.24 5
17 Slovakia1.35 2
18 Ireland1.32 0.05 1
19 Denmark1.26 0.07 1
20 Israel1.24 0.02 1
21 Mexico1.23 0.24 3
22 Norway1.23 0.28 3
23 Italy1.21 0.01 5
24 Canada1.20 0.5 10
25 Poland1.19 0.07 3
Source: Observatory of Economic Complexity, MIT

The list is incomplete and only includes the top 25 out of 124 countries.

2013 rankings
RankCountry/TerritoryECI
1 Japan2.29
2  Switzerland2.16
3 Germany1.95
4 Sweden1.83
5 United Kingdom1.72
6 Czech Republic1.71
7 South Korea1.70
8 Finland1.64
9 Austria1.64
10 Singapore1.63
11 United States1.58
12 Slovenia1.56
13 Brazil1.50
14 France1.47
15 Slovakia1.35
16 Hungary1.34
17 Ireland1.27
18 Italy1.25
19 Israel1.22
20 Denmark1.19
21 Netherlands1.15
22 Poland1.13
23 China1.02
24 Mexico0.97
25 Norway0.96
Source: Observatory of Economic Complexity, MIT

The list is incomplete and only includes the top 25 out of 124 countries.

2009 rankings
Rank Country/Territory ECI ECI Increase ('98-'08) Rank Increase ('98-'08) Treemap
1 Japan2.316 0.11 0
2 Germany2.0125 -0.20 0
3  Switzerland1.935 -0.14 0
4 Sweden1.859 -0.17 0
5 Austria1.807 0.01 3
6 Finland1.715 -0.13 0
7 Singapore1.639 0.42 12
8 Czech Republic1.628 0.10 6
9 United Kingdom1.558 -0.37 -4
10 Slovenia1.523 0.09 5
11 France1.473 -0.20 -2
12 South Korea1.469 0.53 13
13 United States1.447 -0.36 -6
14 Hungary1.43 0.42 9
15 Slovakia1.379 0.05 2
16 Italy1.308 -0.23 -3
17 Denmark1.267 -0.27 -5
18 Ireland1.231 -0.34 -7
19 Israel1.219 -0.08 -1
20 Mexico1.210 0.35 7
21 Brazil1.209 0.59 14
22 Belgium1.087 -0.52 -12
23 Netherlands1.044 -0.33 -7
24 Hong Kong1.023 0.60 18
25 Poland1.02 0.00 -3
26 Croatia0.989 0.20 2
27 Romania0.936 0.29 5
28 Spain0.933 -0.19 -8
29 China0.894 0.57 18
30 Panama0.831 0.96 36
31 Thailand0.814 0.65 26
32 Estonia0.791 0.24 2
33 Norway0.777 -0.21 -9
34 Malaysia0.759 0.28 4
35 Portugal0.696 0.13 -2
36 Lithuania0.683 0.27 7
37 Serbia0.644
38 Bosnia and Herzegovina0.453 0.08 -2
39 Latvia0.594 0.37 13
40 Bulgaria0.587 -0.06 -9
41 Canada0.571 -0.45 -20
42 Ukraine0.559 -0.33 -16
43 Turkey0.444 0.17 6
44 Lebanon0.403 0.32 17
45 Jordan0.325 -0.11 -4
46 Russia0.324 -0.36 -17
47 Tunisia0.294 0.31 16
48 New Zealand0.287 -0.18 -9
49 Costa Rica0.278 0.81 29
50 Moldova0.266 0.15 9
51 India0.247 0.04 3
52 Belarus0.244 -0.43 -22
53 Greece0.214 -0.04 -3
54 Colombia0.2 -0.08 -6
55 South Africa0.131 -0.28 -11
56 Uruguay0.109 -0.33 -16
57 Argentina0.106 -0.28 -12
58 Albania0.087 0.46 17
59 Philippines0.032 0.34 14
60 El Salvador0.026 1.05 45
61 Indonesia-0.007 0.18 7
62 North Macedonia-0.018 -0.02 0
63 Egypt-0.021 0.28 9
64 Dominican Republic-0.064 0.66 26
65 Guatemala-0.099 0.76 33
66 United Arab Emirates-0.106 -0.08 -2
67 Vietnam-0.181 0.41 16
68 Saudi Arabia-0.201 -0.42 -15
69 Kyrgyzstan-0.24 -0.33 -9
70 Georgia-0.263 -0.74 -33
71 Sri Lanka-0.265 0.37 16
72 Namibia-0.271
73 Kenya-0.276 0.84 36
74 Senegal-0.287 0.68 27
75 Syria-0.29 0.69 27
76 Trinidad and Tobago-0.306 -0.25 -11
77 Mauritius-0.307 0.32 9
78 Chile-0.312 -0.44 -20
79 Australia-0.321 -0.50 -23
80 Zimbabwe-0.327 0.23 2
81 Jamaica-0.343 0.44 12
82 Pakistan-0.398 0.33 10
83 Morocco-0.4 0.11 -6
84 Cuba-0.426 0.19 1
85 Qatar-0.438 0.35 9
86 Paraguay-0.474 -0.25 -17
87 Uganda-0.488 0.65 24
88 Honduras-0.518 0.57 20
89 Peru-0.576 -0.32 -18
90 Madagascar-0.594 0.54 20
91 Oman-0.604 -0.27 -17
92 Kazakhstan-0.608 -0.82 -37
93 Ecuador-0.619 0.23 4
94 Botswana-0.62
95 Tanzania-0.637 0.61 20
96 Uzbekistan-0.658 -0.51 -29
97 Nicaragua-0.661 0.66 20
98 Cambodia-0.702 0.48 16
99 Ivory Coast-0.868 0.56 20
100 Ghana-0.868 0.31 13
101 Bolivia-0.879 -0.32 -20
102 Laos-0.88 -0.05 -6
103 Bangladesh-0.887 0.11 0
104 Ethiopia-0.892 0.17 2
105 Zambia-0.933 0.03 -5
106 Malawi-1.024 0.28 10
107 Yemen-1.042 0.33 11
108 Tajikistan-1.054 -0.81 -38
109 Mozambique-1.077 -0.70 -33
110 Mali-1.103 0.38 10
111 Venezuela-1.109 -1.36 -60
112 Liberia-1.128 -0.52 -28
113 Mongolia-1.166 -0.46 -24
114 Algeria-1.213 -0.40 -19
115 Turkmenistan-1.217 -0.67 -35
116 Kuwait-1.219 -0.67 -37
117 Azerbaijan-1.223 -1.60 -71
118 Iran-1.229 -0.54 -30
119 Libya-1.304 -0.58 -28
120 Gabon-1.364 -0.44 -21
121 Cameroon-1.403 0.32 3
122 Nigeria-1.418 0.23 1
123 Guinea-1.444 0.34 2
124 Papua New Guinea-1.577 -0.02 -3
125 Congo-1.707 -0.12 -3
126 Sudan-1.768 -0.69 -19
127 Angola-1.793 -0.64 -15
128 Mauritania-1.907 -0.89 -24

Factors affecting differences between countries

As an illustration, we can observe the differences between Egypt and Thailand in ECI ranking between the years of 1995 and 2015, let us use the below figures as an example:

RankCountryECI ValueYear
45Thailand0.301995
75Egypt-0.411995
24Thailand1.062015
68Egypt-0.232015
  • Difference in 1995: 0.71 ECI points for Thailand
  • Difference in 2015: 1.28824 ECI points for Thailand
  • Increase for Egypt 1995-2015: 0.18037 ECI Points
  • Increase for Thailand 1995-2015: 0.7575 ECI Points

When we dig deeper into the export data of both countries, we can deduce that the differences were mainly in the composition of their relative export baskets. The more countries direct their efforts to more sophisticated products, the more it is reflected in the ECI score, and hence their potential economic growth.

For example, from 1995-2015, Thailand appears to have phased away from largely ubiquitous products “fur: 0.1 on the Product Complexity Index ("PCI"), Leather: 0.9 PCI, footwear: -0.7 PCI”, and focused their exports into products that few other countries can make “Cars: 2.47 PCI, parts and accessories of motor vehicles: 3.18 PCI, motor vehicles for transporting good: 1.87 PCI”.

Egypt, on the other hand, also experienced an increase in complexity, albeit much less than the one experienced by Thailand. They had a relatively high growth as a share of their total export portfolio in monitors and projectors: 0.9 PCI, but they also had a growth in insulated wires which has a PCI of -0.48.

So, in general, we can observe that Thailand has expanded in products with higher PCI than the ones they phased out from, while Egypt expanded in some higher PCI products, and also some lower ones hence the difference in ECI growth between the two.

For reference data, please go to http://atlas.cid.harvard.edu.

References
  1. "UN Comtrade".
  2. UN Trade Statistics, What is UN Comtrade?, published 2016, accessed 4 October 2019
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