ESCWA supports member States in streamlining economic planning and coordination across ministries and partners, and acts as regional policy advisor on the use of international indices for developing effective and transformational policies.
With ISPAR, ESCWA offers technical support in identifying strengths and weaknesses related to regional and international indicators towards more effective policymaking.
The selected indicators cover competitiveness, gender, business, technology and innovation.
To take full advantage of innovation on national level, a mature ecosystem is needed. Developed by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Global Innovation Index (GII) measures the innovation ecosystem on national level by covering 3 dimensions: innovation input, innovation output and innovation efficiency.
Doing Business records all procedures officially required, or commonly done in practice, for an entrepreneur to start up and formally operate an industrial or commercial business, as well as the time and cost to complete these procedures and the paid-in minimum capital requirement.
The ranking of economies on the ease of resolving insolvency is determined by sorting their scores. These scores are the simple average of the scores for the recovery rate and the strength of insolvency framework index. The recovery rate is recorded as cents on the dollar recovered by secured creditors through reorganization, liquidation, or debt enforcement (foreclosure or receivership) proceedings.
The extent to which governments ensure a stable policy environment for doing business.
Average perception scores (five-year average) of experts on entrepreneurial policies and entrepreneurial culture. Experts in different fields assess conditions for entrepreneurship in their country via statements (1= completely false; 10 =completely true).
Average answer to the survey question: In your country, to what extent does the government ensure a stable policy environment for doing business? [1 = not at all; 7 = to a great extent].
World Trade Organization
A film with a running time of 60 minutes or longer. It includes works of fiction, animation, and documentaries. It is intended for commercial exhibition in cinemas. Feature films produced exclusively for television broadcasting, as well as newsreels and advertising films, are excluded.
The Global Entertainment & Media Outlook (the Outlook) is a comprehensive source of global analyses and five-year forecasts of consumer and advertising spending across 53 territories for 14 entertainment and media segments.
Printing, and reproduction of recorded media output (ISIC Revision 4 Division 18, group 181 with class 1811 and 1812 and group 182 with class 1820) as a percentage of total manufacturing output.
Total value of creative goods exports (current US$) over total trade.
These scores are the score for the sum of the strength of the legal rights index (range 0–12) and the depth of credit information index (range 0–8). Doing Business measures the legal rights of borrowers and lenders with respect to secured transactions through one set of indicators and the reporting of credit information through another. The first set of indicators measures whether certain features that facilitate lending exist within the applicable collateral and bankruptcy laws. The second set measures the coverage, scope, and accessibility of credit information available through credit reporting service providers such as credit bureaus or credit registries. Although Doing Business compiles data on getting credit for public registry coverage (% of adults) and for private bureau coverage (% of adults), these indicators are not included in the ranking.
Domestic credit to private sector” refers to financial resources provided to the private sector by financial corporations, such as through loans, purchases of nonequity securities, and trade credits and other accounts receivable that establish a claim for repayment. For some countries, these claims include credit to public enterprises. The financial corporations include monetary authorities and deposit money banks, as well as other financial corporations where data are available (including corporations that do not accept transferable deposits but do incur such liabilities as time and savings deposits).
Combined gross loan balances of microfinance institutions (current US$) in a country as a percentage of its GDP (current US$).
Average perception scores (five-year average) of experts on finance for starting and growing firms. Experts in different fields assess conditions for entrepreneurship in their country via statements (1=completely false; 10 = completely true).
Outstanding loans from all microfinance institutions in a country as a percentage of its GDP
Purchasing power parity gross domestic product (PPP$ GDP) per kilogram of oil equivalent of energy use. Total primary energy supply (TPES) is made up of production + imports - exports - international marine bunkers - international aviation bunkers +/– stock changes.
These indicators provide a gauge at a national scale of how close countries are to established environmental policy targets. The EPI offers a scorecard that highlights leaders and laggards in environmental performance and provides practical guidance for countries that aspire to move toward a sustainable future.
ISO 14001:2015 specifies the requirements for an environmental management system that an organization can use to enhance its environmental performance. ISO 14001 is intended for use by an organization seeking to manage its environmental responsibilities in a systematic manner that contributes to the environmental pillar of sustainability. ISO 14001 helps an organization achieve the intended outcomes of its environmental management system, which provide value for the environment, the organization itself, and interested parties.
The low-carbon intensive energy share is calculated based on its share of a country’s total primary energy consumption (expressed in petajoules). Primary energy is the energy available in raw, unprocessed natural resources that serve as inputs into the energy system. It measures total energy consumed before any significant efficiency losses due to converting it to secondary energy (a transportable form) or final energy (delivered to the consumer). The full energy mix is considered, comprising high-carbon intensive fossil fuel sources; oil, coal, and natural gas; as well as low-carbon intensive sources; hydro, nuclear, wind, biomass, solar, geothermal, etc.
Total general (local, regional and central) government expenditure on education (current, capital, and transfers), expressed as a percentage of GDP.
Total general (local, regional and central, current and capital) initial government funding of education per student, which includes transfers paid (such as scholarships to students), but excludes transfers received, in this case international transfers to government for education (when foreign donors provide education sector budget support or other support integrated in the government budget). This is then expressed as a share of GDP per capita, in US$.
Total number of years of schooling that a child of a certain age can expect to receive in the future, assuming that the probability of his or her being enrolled in school at any particular age is equal to the current enrolment ratio for that age.
PISA is the OECD’s (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) Program for International Student Assessment. PISA measures 15-year-olds’ ability to use their reading, mathematics and science knowledge and skills. Results from PISA indicate the quality and equity of learning outcomes attained around the world.
The number of pupils enrolled in secondary school divided by the number of secondary school teachers (regardless of their teaching assignment).A high pupil-teacher ratio suggests that each teacher has to be responsible for a large number of pupils. In other words, the higher the pupil/ teacher ratio, the lower the relative access of pupils to teachers.
Electricity output
Logistics performance: A multidimensional assessment of logistics performance, the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) ranks 160 countries combining data on six core performance components into a single aggregate measure—including customs performance, infrastructure quality, and timeliness of shipments. The LPI’s six components are: (1) the efficiency of customs and border management clearance (“Customs”); (2) the quality of trade and transport infrastructure (“Infrastructure”); (3) the ease of arranging competitively priced shipments (“International shipments”); (4) the competence and quality of logistics services (“Services Quality”); (5) the ability to track and trace consignments (“Tracking and tracing”); and (6) the frequency with which shipments reach consignees within scheduled or expected delivery times (“Timeliness”). The LPI consists therefore of both qualitative and quantitative measures and helps build profiles of logistics friendliness for these countries.
Gross capital formation is expressed as a ratio of total investment in current local currency to GDP in current local currency. Investment or gross capital formation is measured by the total value of the gross fixed capital formation and changes in inventories and acquisitions less disposals of valuables for a unit or sector, on the basis of the System of National Accounts (SNA) of 1993.
The ICT access index, previously part of the ITU ICT Development Index, is a composite index that weights five ICT indicators (20% each): (1) Fixed telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants; (2) Mobile cellular telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants; (3) International Internet bandwidth (bit/s) per Internet user; (4) Percentage of households with a computer; and (5) Percentage of households with Internet access.
The ICT use index, previously part of the ITU ICT Development Index, is a composite index that weights three ICT indicators (33% each): (1) Percentage of individuals using the Internet; (2) Fixed (wired)-broadband Internet subscriptions per 100 inhabitants; (3) Active mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants.
The Online Services Index component of the E-Government Development Index is a composite indicator measuring the use of ICTs by governments in delivering public services at the national level.
The E-Participation Index (EPI) is derived as a supplementary index to the United Nations E-Government Survey. It extends the dimension of the Survey by focusing on the government use of online services in providing information to its citizens or “e-information sharing”, interacting with stakeholders or “e-consultation” and engaging in decision-making processes or “e-decision-making.”
Average answer to the survey question: In your country, to what extent do businesses and universities collaborate on research and development (R&D) [1 = do not collaborate at all; 7 = collaborate extensively]
Average answer to the survey question on the role of clusters in the economy: In your country, how widespread are well-developed and deep clusters (geographic concentrations of firms, suppliers, producers of related products and services, and specialized institutions in a particular field)? [1 = non-existent; 7 = widespread in many fields]
Percentage of gross expenditure on R&D financed by abroad (billions, national currency)—that is, with foreign financing as a percentage of GDP (billions, national currency).
Thomson Reuters data on joint ventures/strategic alliances deals, per deal, with details on the country of origin of partner firms, among others. The series corresponds to a query on joint venture/strategic alliance deals from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019, for a total of 10,535 deals announced in 2019, with firms headquartered in 122 GII participating economies. Each participating nation of each company in a deal (n countries per deal) gets, per deal,a score equivalent to 1/n (with the effect that all country scores add up to 10,535). The data are reported per billion PPP$ GDP.
A “patent family” is a set of interrelated patent applications filed in one or more countries or jurisdictions to protect the same invention. Patent families containing applications filed in at least two different offices is a subset of patent families where protection of the same invention is sought in at least two different countries.
Public–private co-authored research publications as a percentage of all research publications. Research publications are limited to the following four main fields of science: Biomedical and health sciences, Life and earth sciences, Mathematics and computer science, and Physical sciences and engineering. The definition of the "private sector" includes all for profit business enterprises, covering all manufacturing and services sectors. This includes research institutes and other corporate R&D laboratories that are fully funded or owned by for profit business enterprises. Organizations in the private education sector and private healthcare sector organizations (including hospitals and clinics) are not classified as private sector.
Index that measures the likelihood and severity of political, legal, operational or security risks affecting business operations. Scores are annualized, standardized and aggregated for end Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4.
Index that reflects perceptions of the quality of public services, the quality of the civil service and the degree of its independence from political pressures, the quality of policy formulation and implementation, and the credibility of the government’s commitment to such policies.
A “trademark” is a sign used by the owner of certain products or provider of certain services to distinguish them from the products or services of other companies. A trademark can consist of words and/or combinations of words, such as slogans, Names, logos, figures and images, letters, numbers, sounds, and moving images, or a combination thereof.
Sum of Global Brand Values, top 5,000 as a percentage of GDP. Brand Finance calculates brand value using the Royalty Relief methodology, which determines the value a company would be willing to pay to license its brand as if it did not own it. The methodology is compliant with industry standards set in ISO 10668. ISO This approach involves estimating the future revenue attributable to a brand and calculating a royalty rate that would be charged for the use of the brand.
An “industrial design” is a set of exclusive rights granted by law to applicants for protecting the Ornamental or aesthetic aspect of their products. An industrial design is valid for a limited period of time and within a limited territory. A resident industrial design application refers to an application filed with the IP office for or on behalf of the applicant’s country of residence.
Average answer to the question: In your country, to what extent do ICTs enable new organizational models (e.g., virtual teams, remote working, telecommuting)
The data cover a global list of firms for which intangible asset value and total firm value are observed. Only the top 15 firms of each economy are considered, ranked by intangible assets in absolute terms (in USD). Countries with fewer than 15 firms are not considered. For each firm, the intangible asset value is divided by the firm’s total value before computing the arithmetic mean across the top 15 firms for each economy
This ranking is the sum of the scores for the extent of conflict of interest regulation index and the extent of shareholder governance index. The extent of conflict of interest regulation index measures the protection of shareholders against directors’ misuse of corporate assets for personal gain by distinguishing three dimensions of regulation that address conflicts of interest: transparency of related-party transactions (extent of disclosure index), shareholders ‘ability to sue and hold directors liable for self-dealing (extent of director liability index), and access to evidence and allocation of legal expenses in shareholder litigation(ease of shareholder suits index).
Market capitalization (also known as “market value”) is the share price times the number of shares outstanding (including their several classes) for listed domestic companies. Investment funds, unit trusts, and companies whose only business goal is to hold shares of other listed companies are excluded.
Thomson Reuters Eikon data on private equity deals, per deal, with information on the location of investment, investment company, investor firms, funds, and crowdfunding, among other details.
Refinitiv data on private equity deals, per deal, with information on the location of the firm investing in a venture capital (VC) deal, among other details. The data represent the three-year average of 2019–21 deals invested in and are reported per billion PPP$ GDP.
Value according to the Extended Balance of Payments Services Classification EBOPS 2010—that is, code SH charges for the use of intellectual property not included elsewhere as a percentage of total trade. “Total trade” is defined as the sum of total imports code G goods and code SOX commercial services (excluding government goods and services not included elsewhere) plus total exports of code G goods and code SOX commercial services (excluding government goods and services not included elsewhere), divided by 2. According to the sixth edition of the International Monetary Fund’s Balance of Payments Manual, the item “Goods” covers general merchandise, net exports of goods under merchanting, and non-monetary gold.
High-technology imports as a percentage of total trade. High-technology exports and imports contain technical products with a high intensity of R&D, defined by the Eurostat classification, which is based on Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) Revision 4 and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) definition. Commodities belong to the following sectors: aerospace; computers & office machines; electronics; telecommunications; pharmacy; scientific instruments; electrical machinery; chemistry; non-electrical machinery; and armament.
Telecommunications, computer and information services as a percentage of total trade according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s Extended Balance of Payments Services Classification EBOPS 2010, coded SI: Telecommunications, computer and information services.
Foreign direct investment is the average of the most recent three years of net inflows of investment to acquire a lasting management interest (10 percent or more of voting stock)in an enterprise operating in an economy other than that of the investor. It is the sum of equity capital, reinvestment of earnings, other long-term capital, and short-term capital as shown in the balance of payments. This series shows net inflows (new investment inflows less disinvestment) in the reporting economy from foreign investors, and is divided by GDP.
Full-time equivalent (FTE) researchers in the business enterprise sector” refers to researchers as professionals engaged in the conception or creation of new knowledge, products, processes, methods, and systems, as well as in the management of these projects, broken down by the sectors in which they are employed (business enterprise, government, higher education, and private non-profit organizations).
A resident patent application refers to an application filed with an IP office for or on behalf of the first-named applicant’s country of residence. For example, an application filed with the Japan Patent Office (JPO) by a resident of Japan is considered a resident application for Japan.
A PCT application refers to an international patent applications filed through the WIPO-administered Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). The PCT system makes it possible to seek patent protection for an invention simultaneously in a number of countries by filing a single international patent application. The origin of PCT applications is defined by the residence of the first-named applicant.
Terms and conditions for granting a utility model are slightly different from those for normal patents and include a shorter term of protection and less stringent patentability requirements. A utility model is sometimes referred to in certain countries as “petty patents”, “short-term patents”, or “innovation patents”. A resident UM application refers to an application filed with an IP office for or on behalf of the first-Named applicant’s country of residence.
Articles are counted on a count basis (rather than a fractional basis)—that is, for articles with collaborating institutions from multiple countries/economies, each country/economy receives credit on the basis of its participating institutions. The data are reported per billion PPP$ GDP.
The H-index expresses the journal’s number of articles (H) that have received at least H citations. It quantifies both journal scientific productivity and scientific impact. The H-index is tabulated from the number of citations received in subsequent years by articles published in a given year, divided by the number of articles published that year.
ISO 9001:2015 specifies requirements for a quality management system when an organization needs to demonstrate its ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, and aims to enhance customer satisfaction through the effective application of the system, including processes for improving the system and assuring conformity to customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.
Value according to the Extended Balance of Payments Services Classification EBOPS 2010—that is, code SH charges for the use of intellectual property not included elsewhere as a percentage of total trade. Receipts are between residents and non-residents for the use of proprietary rights (such as patents, trademarks, copyrights, industrial processes, and designs including trade secrets, franchises), and for licenses to reproduce or distribute (or both) intellectual property embodied in produced originals or prototypes (such as copyrights on books and manuscripts, computer software, cinematographic works, and sound recordings) and related rights (such as for live performances and television, cable, or satellite broadcast).
High-technology exports minus re-exports (% of total trade):High-technology exports and imports contain technical products with a high intensity of R&D, defined by the Eurostat classification, which is based on Standard International Trade Classification (SITC).
Telecommunications, computer and information services (% of total trade) according to the Extended Balance of Payments Services Classification EBOPS 2010,
Foreign direct investment” refers to the average of the most recent three years of direct investment equity flows in an economy. It is the sum of equity capital, reinvestment of earnings, and other capital. Direct investment is a category of cross-border investment associated with a resident in one economy having control or a significant degree of influence on the management of an enterprise that is resident in another economy.
Growth rate of real GDP per person employed (constant 1990 PPP$), average of three last available years. Growth of gross domestic product (GDP) per person engaged provides a measure of labor productivity (defined as output per unit of labor input). GDP per person employed is GDP divided by total employment in the economy. PPP$ GDP is Constant 1990 in U.S. dollars, expressed in 1990 GK PPP, Millions. While this is a relatively robust measure, it does not correct for part-time jobs as it merely counts people who are employed. Hence, GDP per person employed is somewhat underestimated in countries with a higher share of part-time workers, which are mostly OECD countries.
Number of newly registered corporations per 1,000 working-age (15–64 years old). The units of measurement are private, formal sector companies with limited liability.
Computer software spending includes the total value of purchased or leased packaged software such as operating systems, database systems, programming tools, utilities, and applications. It excludes expenditures for internal software development and outsourced custom software development.
High-tech and medium-high-tech output as a percentage of total manufactures output, on the basis of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) classification of Technology Intensity Definition.
Total valuation of all unicorns in a country as a percentage of GDP. A unicorn company is a private company with a valuation over $1 billion. Unicorn companies as of April 7, 2023, with 1,207 unicorns worldwide.
Sum of people in categories 1 to 3 as a percentage of total people employed, according to the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO). Categories included in ISCO-08 are: 1 Managers, 2 Professionals, and 3 Technicians and associate professionals.
The percentage of firms offering formal training programs for their permanent, full-time employees in the sample of firms in the World Bank’s Enterprise Survey in each country.
Gross expenditure on R&D performed by business enterprise as a percentage of GDP
Gross expenditure on R&D financed by business enterprise as a percentage of total gross expenditure on R&D.
The percentage of females employed with advanced degrees out of total employed. The employed comprise all persons of working age who, during a specified brief period, were in one of the following categories: (1) paid employment (whether at work or with a job but not at work); or (2) self-employment (whether at work or with an enterprise but not at work).
A generic top-level domain (gTLD) is one of the categories of top-level domains (TLDs) maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) for use on the Internet. Generic TLDs can be unrestricted (.com, .info, .net, and.org) or restricted—that is, used on the basis of fulfilling eligibility criteria (.biz, .Name, and .pro). Of these, the statistic covers the five generic domains .biz, .info, .org,.net, and .com.
A country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) is one of the categories of top-level domains (TLDs) maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) for use on the Internet. Country-code TLDs are two-letter domains especially designated for a particular economy, country, or autonomous territory"
Data extracted from Wikimedia Foundation’s internal data sources. Data reflects economies with more than 100,000 edit counts in 2019; The data exclude both contributions to the extent that is identifiable in the data sources. Data are reported per million population 15–69 years old.
Global downloads of mobile apps, by origin of the headquarters of the developer/firm, scaled by PPP$ GDP (billions). Global downloads are compiled by App Annie Intelligence, public data sources, and the company’s proprietary forecast model based on data from Google play store and iOS App store in each country between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019.
GitHub is the world’s largest host of source code, and a commit is the term used for a change on this platform. One or more commits can be saved (or pushed) to projects (or repositories). Thus, “GitHub commit pushes received” refers to the number of batched changes received by publicly-available projects on GitHub within a specific economy.
The sum of Generic top-level domains (TLDs) and country-code TLDs as a proportion of thousand population, 15-69 years old. A top-level domain (TLD) encompasses various categories maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) for internet use. Generic TLDs cover five generic domains (.biz, .info, .org, .net, and .com), excluding sponsored domains such as .name or .pro, and all new generic TLDs. Country-code TLDs are assigned to specific economies, countries, or territories and represent total domain registrations within each country-code TLD, with exceptions for ccTLDs licensed for global commercial use.
Index that reflects perceptions of the ability of the government to formulate and implement sound policies and regulations that permit and promote private sector development.
Index that reflects perceptions of the extent to which agents have confidence in and abide by the rules of society, and in particular the quality of contract enforcement, property rights, the police, and the courts, as well as the likelihood of crime and violence.
Sum of notice period and severance pay for redundancy dismissal (salary in weeks, averages for workers with 1, 5, and 10 years of tenure, with a minimum threshold of 8 weeks) Redundancy costs measure the cost of advance notice requirements and severance payments due when terminating a redundant worker, expressed in weeks of salary.
Total domestic intramural expenditure on R&D during a given period as a percentage of GDP. “Intramural R&D expenditure” is all expenditure for R&D performed within a statistical unit or sector of the economy during a specific period, whatever the source of funds
Average expenditure on R&D of the top three global companies. If a country has fewer than three global companies listed, the figure is either the average of the sum of the two companies listed or the total for a single listed company. A score of 0 is given to countries with no listed companies.
Average score of the top three universities per country. If fewer than three universities are listed in the QS ranking of the global top 1000 universities, the sum of the scores of the listed universities is divided by three, thus implying a score of zero for the non-listed universities.
Researchers per million population, FTE. Researchers in R&D are professionals engaged in the conception or creation of new knowledge, products, processes, methods, or systems and in the management of the projects concerned. Postgraduate PhD students (ISCED97 level 6) engaged in R&D are included.
The ratio of total tertiary enrolment, regardless of age, to the population of the age group that officially corresponds to the tertiary level of education. Tertiary education, whether or not at an advanced research qualification, normally requires, as a minimum condition of admission, the successful completion of education at the secondary level.
The share of all tertiary-level graduates in natural sciences, mathematics, statistics, information and technology, manufacturing, engineering, and construction as a percentage of all tertiary-level graduates.
The number of students from abroad studying in a given country as a percentage of the total tertiary-level enrolment in that country.
"Weighted mean applied tariff” is the average of effectively applied rates weighted by the product import shares corresponding to each partner country. Data are classified using the Harmonized System of trade at the six- or eight-digit level. Tariff line data were matched to Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) revision 3 codes to define commodity groups and import weights. To the extent possible, specific rates have been converted to their ad valorem equivalent rates and have been included in the calculation of weighted mean tariffs. Effectively applied tariff rates at the six- and eight-digit product level are averaged for products in each commodity group. When the effectively applied rate is unavailable, the most favored nation rate is used instead.
Average answer to the survey question: In your country, how intense is competition in the local markets? [1 = not intense at all; 7 = extremely intense
The domestic market size is measured by gross domestic product (GDP) based on the purchasing-power-parity (PPP) valuation of country GDP, in current international dollars (billions).
Digital transformation needs the availability of appropriate infrastructure, skilled human resources, adequate governance and impact on national development. Developed by Portulans Institute, this index assesses 134 economies based on their performance across 60 variables.
The Index includes four fundamental dimensions: Technology, People, Governance and Impact. This holistic approach means that the NRI covers issues ranging from future technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) to the role of the digital economy in reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The sub-index relates to the cost of three separate basket profiles that are distinguished in part by usage allowance (100MB, 500 MB, and 1 GB per month, respectively). Tariffs are given as a percentage of monthly GDP per capita.
The Handset prices indicator relates to the cheapest smartphone or feature phone that allows user access to the Internet.
Fibre-to-the-home/building Internet subscriptions refers to the number of Internet subscriptions using fibre-to-the-home or fibre-to-the-building; at downstream speeds equal to; or greater than; 256 kbit/s
4G mobile network coverage:This indicator measures the percentage of inhabitants out of the total population who are within range of an advanced mobile cellular signal, such as LTE/LTE-Advanced and mobile WiMAX/Wireless MAN networks, irrespective of whether they are subscribers.
ICT use / fixed-broadband subscriptions per 100 inh:The term “fixed-broadband subscriptions” refers to fixed subscriptions for high-speed access to the public Internet (a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)/IP connection) at downstream speeds equal to or higher than 256 kbit/s. This includes cable modem, DSL, fibre-to-the-home/building, other fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions, satellite broadband and terrestrial fixed wireless broadband. The total is measured irrespective of the method of payment. It excludes subscriptions that have access to data communications (including the Internet) via mobile-cellular networks. It includes fixed WiMAX and any other fixed wireless technologies, and both residential subscriptions and subscriptions for organizations.
International Internet bandwidth refers to the total used capacity of international Internet bandwidth in megabits per second (Mbit/s).
The Internet access in schools indicator refers to the share of primary schools with access to the Internet via fixed narrowband, fixed broadband, or mobile networks.
The following indicator refers to the percentage of inhabitants within range of at least a 3G mobile-cellular signal, irrespective of whether or not they are subscribers.
SMS sent refers to the total number of mobile short-message service (SMS) messages initiated to and from national and international destinations.
The data for the Firms with website indicator consists of enterprise surveys conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank.
Used the Internet to buy something online in the past year (%) . This indicator refers to the percentage of respondents aged at least 15 years old who have used the Internet in the past year to buy something online. The data stem from a triennial survey that is carried out in more than 140 economies.
Sum of people in categories 1 to 3 as a percentage of total people employed, according to the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO). Categories included in ISCO-08 are: 1 Managers; 2 Professionals; 3 Technicians and Associate Professionals.
This indicator refers to the number of technicians and associate professionals as a share of the total workforce. The employment by occupation is based on the International Standard Classification of Occupation (ISCO) Revision 2008 (data based on ISCO Rev. 1988 is used for those countries where ISCO Rev. 2008 is not available). It includes physical and engineering science associate professionals, life science and health associate professionals, teaching associate professionals, and other associate professionals (finance and sales, social work, artistic, entertainment and sports, religious associate professionals, police inspectors and detectives, administrative, customs, and tax and related government associate professionals).
Average answer to the question: In your country, to what extent do companies invest in training and employee development? [1 = not at all; 7 = to a great extent] The World Economic Forum’s Executive Opinion Survey (EOS) is conducted on an annual basis to gather information from business leaders on topics for which hard data sources are scarce or nonexistent. It is part of the effort to supplement The Global Competitiveness Report in assessing issues that drive national competitiveness
Gross domestic expenditure on R&D performed by business enterprise (% of GDP) This indicator refers to business enterprise expenditure on research and development (R&D) as a percentage of GDP. This includes both private enterprises and public enterprises. R&D expenditure is defined as all current expenditure plus gross fixed capital expenditure for R&D performed by businesses, whatever the source of funds
The Annual investment in telecommunication services indicator refers to the investments made within the financial year by entities that provide telecommunication networks and/or services (including fixed mobile and Internet services and the transmission of TV signals).
The following indicator refers to the Gross expenditure on R&D (GERD) financed by a business enterprise as a percentage of total gross R&D expenditure.
The indicator measures the gross expenditure on R&D performed by a business enterprise as a percentage of GDP.
Refers to the occurrences of deals associated with venture capital investments specifically targeting artificial intelligence startups. This metric is expressed per billion PPP$ GDP and focuses on private companies that either develop AI systems or deliver products that significantly rely on AI technologies.
A public cloud is the digital infrastructure and computing resources managed by a service provider. These resources, which include virtual machines, storage, and associated services, are available for purchase through flexible business models such as pay-as-you-go and subscriptions. The public cloud market encompasses companies that provide these resources and services to individuals, businesses, and organizations.
DKEI digital participation and content creation subindex This indicator is a sub-index comprised of three variables: GitHub commits, Wikipedia edits, and top-level domain registrations. The sub-index has been constructed by Ojanperä et al. (2019) as a measure of digital capacities and skills in a country. They use it to estimate a Digital Knowledge Economy Index, whereby they complement the World Bank’s Knowledge Economy Index by adding the sub-index as a fifth dimension.
Number of active mobile applications developed per person. This indicator is included in the Mobile Connectivity Index published by the GSM Association. It is one of four indicators that make up the Local Relevance sub-index that, in turn, is part of the Content & Services pillar. The original data is sourced from AppFigures (https://appfigures.com/).
Charges for the use of intellectual property not included elsewhere, receipts (% of total trade) This indicator is based on receipts related to four subitems of charges for the use of intellectual property not included elsewhere: franchises and trademarks licensing fees, licenses for the use of outcomes of research and development, licenses to reproduce and/or distribute computer software, and licenses to reproduce and/or distribute audiovisual and related products. The data refers to the three-year average as a percentage of total trade. The product category follows the Extended Balance of Payments Services Classification (EBOPS 2010), which is based on the sixth edition of the IMF Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM6).
The AI scientific publications indicator measures the total number of AI publications in Elsevier per economy. Any paper with a field of study categorized as “artificial intelligence” and “machine learning” according to the Microsoft Academic Graph (MAG) taxonomy is measured.
GitHub is the world’s largest host of source code, and a commit is the term used for a saved change on this platform. One or more commits can be saved (or pushed) to projects (or repositories).
The Internet domain registrations indicator measures the production of Internet content. It refers to two types of top-level domains: generic top-level domains and countrycode top-level domain.
Global downloads of mobile apps, by origin of the headquarters of the developer/firm, scaled by PPP$ GDP (billions).
All data extracts from internal sources provided by The Wikimedia Foundation. A country with edit counts in 2020 greater than 100,000 use data from that year.
Proportion of medium and high-tech industry value added in total value added (%) . This indicator refers to the ratio between the value added of medium and high-tech industry and the total value added of manufacturing, expressed as a percentage.
A PCT application refers to an international patent application filed through the WIPO-administered Patent Cooperation Treaty.
The Conference Board provides two calculations of its estimates on output, labor, and labor productivity: an original version based on official GDP data and an adjusted version based on GDP growth and levels that take into account rapidly falling ICT prices. “Labor productivity per employee” is based on the estimates of the adjusted version.
The following indicator refers to the growth rate of real GDP per person employed averaged over the three most recent and available years (2018, 2019, 2020). Growth of GDP per person engaged provides a measure of labor productivity (defined as output per unit of labor input). GDP per person employed is expressed as a percentage of total employment in the economy.
High-technology and medium-high-technology output as a percentage of total manufacturing output.
High-technology exports as a percentage of total trade.
Telecommunications, computer and information services exports as a percentage of total trade according to the Extended Balance of Payments Services Classification.
Average answer to the question: In your country, to what extent is the online gig economy prevalent? [1 = Not at all; 7 = To a great extent]
The domestic market size is measured by GDP based on the PPP valuation of country GDP, in current international dollars (billions).
In your country, to what extent are the latest technologies available? [1 = not at all; 7 = to a great extent] | 2016-17 weighted average
Average answer to the question: In your country, to what extent do companies invest in emerging technologies (e.g. Internet of Things, advanced analytics and artificial intelligence, augmented virtual reality and wearables, advanced robotics, 3D printing)? [1 = not at all; 7 = to a great extent]. The World Economic Forum’s Executive Opinion Survey (EOS) is conducted on an annual basis to gather information from business leaders on topics for which hard data sources are scarce or nonexistent.
The Government Online Service Index (OIS) is one of the three main components of the E-Government Development Index (EGDI) constructed and published by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The OIS assesses the quality of a government’s delivery of online services on a 0-to-1 (best) scale. The assessment is carried out by researchers, who evaluate “each country’s national website in the native language, including the national portal, e-services portal, and e-participation portal, as well as the websites of the related ministries of education, labor, social services, health, finance, and environment, as applicable.
Number of applications for information and communication technology–related patents filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) (per million population) This indicator refers to the count of applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) in the technology domain of information and communication technologies by priority date and inventor nationality. The count is divided by million population. The classification for ICT-related patents is based on the International Patent Classification (IPC), as described in Inaba and Squicciarini (2017).
Computer software spending refers to the total value of purchased or leased packaged software, including operating systems, database systems, programming tools, utilities, and applications.
Robot density refers to the estimated number of multipurpose industrial robots per 10,000 persons employed in the manufacturing industry.
“In your country, to what extent are companies adopting Artificial intelligence?” (1: not at all; 7: to a great extent - on par with the most technologically advanced economies)
In your country, to what extent do companies invest in emerging technologies (e.g., Internet of Things, advanced analytics and artificial intelligence, augmented virtual reality and wearables, advanced robotics, 3D printing)?” [1 = not at all; 7 = to a great extent]
In your country, to what extent do government purchasing decisions foster innovation? [1 = not at all; 7 = to a great extent]
The Open Data Barometer indicator refers to the fourth edition of the Open Data Barometer index that provides a measure of how governments publish and use open data based on readiness (35%), implementation (35%), and impact (30%)
The data refer to the simple mean of the average answers to a similarly worded question regarding five different emerging technologies: In your country, to what extent does the government foster investment (public and private) in Artificial intelligence and machine learning|Robotics|App- and web-enabled markets|Big data analytics|Cloud computing? (1: not at all; 7: to a great extent)
The following indicator refers to the combined expenditure by governments and higher education institutions on research and development (R&D) as a percentage of GDP.
The OIS assesses the quality of a government’s delivery of online services on a 0-to-1 (best) scale.
“In your country, to what extent does the government foster investment (public and private) in artificial intelligence and machine learning?” (1: not at all; 7: to a great extent)
Refers to a country’s ability to effectively create, manage, and utilize data. This includes aspects such as access, skills, infrastructure, institutions, and intermediaries. It evaluates the training level of the civil service in data practices, the presence of open data initiatives, support for data reuse, and the strength of data activities at sub-national levels.
The E-Participation Index assesses on a 0-to-1 (best) scale the quality, relevance, and usefulness of government websites.
Average answer to the question: In your country, to what extent are Internet content and services tailored to the local population (e.g. in the local language, meeting local demand)? (1 = Not at all; 7 = To a great extent]
The Gender gap in Internet use indicator refers to the share of women and men in a country that use the Internet.
The following indicator refers to the share of the rural population against a country’s total population that made or received digital payments within the past 12 months.
The following indicator refers to the share of the poorest 40% and the richest 60% income groups in a country that made or received digital payment within the past 12 months.
ICT use / Percentage of individuals using the Internet:“Internet users” refers to the proportion of individuals who used the Internet in the last 12 months. Data are generally based on national household surveys where the percentage should reflect the total population of the country.
ICT use / Active mobile broadband subscription per 100 inh:This indicator refers to the sum of active handset-based and computer-based mobile-broadband subscriptions to the public Internet, where users have accessed the Internet in the last three months. It covers actual subscribers, not potential subscribers, even though the latter may have broadband-enabled handsets.
The Use of virtual social networks indicator refers to the penetration of active social media users expressed as a percentage of the total population.
Tertiary enrollment refers to the ratio of total education enrollment, regardless of age, by the population of the age group that officially corresponds to the expected level of tertiary education.
The Adult literacy rate indicator defines the percentage of the population aged 15 years and over who can read, write, and understand short, simple statements about their everyday life.
Average answer to the question: In your country, to what extent is the workforce proficient in the following skills? Technology skills [1 = Not at all; 7 = To a great extent]
Mobile-broadband Internet traffic (within the country) refers to broadband traffic volumes originated within the country from 3G networks or other more advanced mobile-networks; including 3G upgrades; evolutions or equivalent standards in terms of data transmission speeds.
A LinkedIn member is considered AI talent if they have explicitly added AI skills to their profile and/or they are occupied in an AI job. The counts of AI talent are used to calculate talent concentration metrics.
Happiness refers to the national average response to the following survey question included in the Gallup World Poll: “Please imagine a ladder, with steps numbered from 0 at the bottom to 10 at the top.
Freedom to make life choices refers to the national average response to the following survey question included in the Gallup World Poll: “Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with your freedom to choose what you do with your life?”
The Gini index is a measure of income inequality within an individual economy. At a technical level, it is based ona Lorenz curve that “plots the cumulative percentages of total income received against the cumulative number of recipients.
The Healthy life expectancy at birth indicator expresses the “average number of years that a person can expect to live in ‘full health’ by taking into account years lived in less than full health due to disease and/or injury.”
The regulatory quality indicator captures perceptions of the ability of the government to formulate and implement sound policies and regulations that permit and promote private sector development. Scores are standardized to a scale from -2.5 (worst) to 2.5 (best).
Doing Business records all procedures officially required, or commonly done in practice, for an entrepreneur to start up and formally operate an industrial or commercial business, as well as the time and cost to complete these procedures and the paid-in minimum capital requirement. These procedures include the processes entrepreneurs undergo when obtaining all necessary approvals, licenses, and permits and completing any required notifications, verifications, or inscriptions for the company and employees with relevant authorities.
Average answer to survey questions concerning the extent to which the legal framework is adapting to five types of emerging technology? The World Economic Forum’s Executive Opinion Survey (EOS) is conducted on an annual basis to gather information from business leaders on topics for which hard data sources are scarce or nonexistent. The data refer to the simple mean of the average answers to a similarly worded question regarding five different emerging technologies: In your country, how adequately is the legal framework adapting to Artificial intelligence|Robotics|Appand web-enabled markets|Big data analytics|Cloud computing? (1: not at all; 7: to a great extent - the legal framework is up-to-date)
The E-commerce legislation indicator refers to a country’s adoption of e-commerce legislation. The Global Cyberlaw Tracker provides information on whether a country has adopted legislation or has a draft law pending adoption within four areas: electronic transactions, consumer protection, privacy and data protection, and cybercrime.
Average answer to the question: What does the legal framework to protect Internet users’ privacy and their data stipulate? This indicator refers to responses on privacy protection given by multiple country experts on a 0-to-4 scale. The responses have been aggregated and, taking disagreement and measurement error into account, a probability distribution has been computed over country-year scores on a standardized interval scale. The point estimates are the median values of these distributions for each country year. The scale of a measurement model variable is similar to a normal (“Z”) score (e.g. typically between -5 and 5, with 0 approximately representing the mean for all country years in the sample), though it does not necessarily follow normal distribution. Only estimates based on at least four ratings are included in the data.
The ICT regulatory environment indicator is based on the ICT Regulatory Tracker composite index that provides a measure of the existence and features of ICT legal and regulatory frameworks
The Legal framework’s adaptability to emerging technologies indicator refers to the simple mean of the average answer of a similarly-worded question posited by the EOS regarding five different emerging technologies (Artificial intelligence, Robotics, App- and web-enabled markets, Big data analytics, and Cloud computing)
The Privacy protection by law content indicator refers to responses on privacy protection given by multiple country experts on a 0-4 scale. With disagreement and measurement error taken into account.
The regulatory quality indicator captures the perception of a government’s ability to formulate and implement sound policies and regulations that permit and promote private sector development.
“In your country, how adequately is the legal framework adapting to artificial intelligence, robotics, app- and webenabled markets, big data analytics, and cloud computing? (1: not at all; 7: to a great extent - the legal framework is up-to-date)
Population with access to basic sanitation services and basic drinking water services (%). This indicator refers to the average of the percentage of the population using at least basic sanitation services and the percentage of the population using at least basic drinking water services. Basic sanitation services relate to “improved sanitation facilities that are not shared with other households”, while the definition for basic drinking water services is “drinking water from an improved source, provided collection time is not more than 30 minutes for a round trip”. The measure is based on SDG indicator “1.4.1 Proportion of population living in households with access to basic services”, which is one of the official indicators for “SDG 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere” .
Annual mean levels of fine particulate matter in cities, urban population (micrograms per cubic meter) . Pollution refers to air pollution in urban areas, as measured by annual mean concentrations of fine particulate matter that are less than 2.5 microns in diameters. The data on PM2.5 concentrations come from fixed-site, population-oriented monitors in metropolitan areas. The country-level mean is a population-weighted average for the urban population. The indicator is one of the official measures for “SDG 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
Road traffic death rate (per 100,000 population). Road safety refers to the estimated number of deaths that are due to road traffic injuries per 100,000 population. The indicator is one of the official measures for “SDG 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages” .
Minimum proficiency in reading, lower primary education (%) This indicator relates to the proportion of students in grades 2 or 3 that have at least minimum proficiency in reading. The level of minimum proficiency is measured through learning assessments and United Nations (2018) provides further details on what minimum proficiency levels are associated with different learning assessments. The indicator is one of the official measures for “SDG 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” and, specifically, for “Target 4.1: By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes”.
Minimum proficiency in mathematics, lower primary education (%) This indicator relates to the proportion of students in grades 2 or 3 that have at least minimum proficiency in mathematics. The level of minimum proficiency is measured through learning assessments and United Nations (2018) provides further details on what minimum proficiency levels are associated with different learning assessments. The indicator is one of the official measures for “SDG 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” and, specifically, for “Target 4.1: By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes”.
Proportion of population with primary reliance on clean fuels and technology (%) . This indicator is defined as “the number of people using clean fuels and technologies for cooking, heating and lighting divided by total population”, expressed as a percentage. By “clean” is meant meeting specific emission rate targets and fuel recommendations as set out in World Health Organization (2014). The indicator is one of the official measures for “SDG 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
Two indicators capture the safety and sustainability of cities: urban pollution and household.
The following indicator refers to the Universal health coverage (UHC) service coverage index and is one of the official indicators related to SDG 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
PISA measures 15-year-olds’ ability to use their reading, mathematics and science knowledge skills.
The Affordable and Clean Energy indicator refers to the energy intensity level of primary energy and is an official indicator related to SDG 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all.
This indicator refers to the percentage of females employed with advanced degrees out of the total employed population.
Women, Business and the Law tracks progress toward legal equality between men and women in 190 economies. Data are collected with standardized questionnaires to ensure comparability across economies.
The rule of law indicator ‘reflects perceptions of the extent to which agents have confidence in and abide by the rules of society, and in particular the quality of contract enforcement, property rights, the police, and the courts, as well as the likelihood of crime and violence’. Scores are standardized to a scale from -2.5 (worst) to 2.5 (best).
This measure covers piracy of all packaged software that runs on personal computers (PCs), including desktops, laptops, and ultra-portables, including netbooks. This includes operating systems; systems software such as databases and security packages; business applications; and consumer applications such as games, personal finance, and reference software. The study does not include software that runs on servers or mainframes, or Software loaded onto tablets or smart phones.
Secure Internet server s are servers that use encryption technology in Internet transactions.
The Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) measures the level of cybersecurity commitments made by individual countries.
The Trust & Safety sub-index is one of three components that make up the Readiness pillar of the Inclusive Internet Index . The sub-index measures Internet safety and cultural acceptance of the Internet based on the weighted average of six indicators: Privacy regulations, Trust in online privacy, Trust in Government websites and apps, Trust in Non-government websites and apps, Trust in information from social media, and e-Commerce safety. Scores are standardized to a scale of 0-100.
The Online access to financial account indicator refers to the percentage of people who have a financial institution account that report using a mobile phone or the Internet to access their financial institution account within the past 12 months.
The Internet shipping indicator refers to the percentage of respondents aged 15 years and older who have used the Internet in the past year to purchase goods and services online.
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