Singapore claims top position in Global Talent Competitiveness Index, first time since launch

Switzerland comes closely behind in second place, followed by Denmark rounding up the top three.

For the first time since the launch of the Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI), Singapore has clinched first place, making it the only Southeast Asian country to be in the top 10. 

Three key trends emerge from the GTCI Ranking:

• First, high income economies dominate the top rankings, with European countries — particularly the Nordic region — showing strong and balanced performance across multiple dimensions.
• Second, several countries achieve success through a specific focus: the Netherlands leads in growing talent, while Luxembourg excels in attracting talent.
• Third, all the top ten economies consistently demonstrated strong performance in both talent enablement and Generalist
  Adaptive Skills (GA Skills).

Here is a breakdown of how each economy scored in each of the pillars: 

An overview of each of the pillars are as follows:  

Input pillars

Enable
Covers the elements that make it easier—or harder—for talent to thrive in a country. This includes the regulatory, market, business, and labour environments that influence how well nations can attract, develop, and retain talent.

Attract
Looks at how effectively a country brings talent into its workforce. This includes attracting foreign investment and high-skilled migrants, as well as ensuring internal inclusion by reducing barriers for underrepresented groups such as women, non-native populations, and people from underprivileged backgrounds.

Grow
Focuses on how well a country develops talent. Beyond formal education, this pillar considers apprenticeships, training, continuous learning, and access to growth opportunities. It acknowledges that much skill development happens through experience, even if measuring it remains a challenge.

Retain
Assesses a country’s ability to keep talent. Key factors include quality of life, personal and national sustainability, and the broader environment that influences whether skilled individuals remain despite having global mobility options.

Output pillars

VT Skills (Vocational and Technical Skills)
Represents mid-level skills gained through vocational or professional training. This pillar looks at employability, measured through skills gaps, labour market mismatches, and the alignment of education systems with job needs.

GA Skills (Generalist Adaptive Skills)
Represents high-level, broad-based skills needed in modern economies — such as adaptability, cognitive flexibility, collaboration, and interdisciplinary problem-solving. These skills are tied to roles requiring creativity, professional expertise, and leadership, and their impact is measured through indicators related to innovation, entrepreneurship, and high-value industries.

Here is a breakdown of how some markets across Asia scored:

Singapore

Singapore takes the top spot in the GTCI for the first time, marking a major milestone in its talent competitiveness journey. It leads globally in GA Skills, Formal Education, and Regulatory Landscape (all ranked 1^st), highlighting the strength of its human-capital systems and governance.

Its rise this year is largely driven by better performance in Retain (31^st, up from 38^th), guided by improvements in Lifestyle (32^nd, up from 49^th). Stronger personal rights, higher physician density, and consistently high personal safety have boosted Singapore’s ability to keep talent. The Business and Labour Landscape also improved (10^th, up from 14^th), reflecting a more supportive environment for business activity and workforce participation.

The main area of concern is VT Skills, which dropped to 13^th from 3^rd, signalling pressure around mid-level skills and employability. Still, Singapore remains a global benchmark, backed by rigorous education, strong institutions, and a clear focus on building an adaptive, innovation-ready workforce.

Malaysia

Malaysia ranks 46^th in the GTCI, holding its spot as the second-highest performer among upper middle-income countries. It even edges out some high-income economies, reinforcing its position as one of the most competitive nations in its income group.

Its biggest strength lies in the Enable pillar (31^st), supported by a strong regulatory framework and a dynamic business environment. Malaysia stands out in Market Landscape (18^th), thanks to healthy competition (23^rd), strong domestic credit to the private sector (16^th), and active cluster development (15^th).

The country is also making steady progress in innovation, with improvements in R&D expenditure (41^st) pointing toward a more knowledge-driven economy. On the output side, it performs well in GA Skills (37^th), boosted by top global results in digital skills (4^th) and high-technology exports (2^nd). Together, these strengths highlight Malaysia’s growing ability to adapt to technological change and compete through innovation.

Philippines

The Philippines (75^th) also performed above expectations and stood among the top 10 economies in the Eastern, Southeastern, Asia and Oceania (ESAO) region this year. Overall, the ESAO region showcased both maturity and dynamism in its talent landscape — where Singapore set the global benchmark among high-income economies, and the Philippines emerged as a rising success story among lower middle-income economies, reflecting a widening yet forward-moving spectrum of talent competitiveness.

India 

India ranks 100^th in the GTCI, reflecting a mix of strong digital capabilities and ongoing education and institutional challenges. Its Enable score (95^th) is moderate, supported by relatively solid government effectiveness (46^th) and rule of law (58^th), but weakened by low political stability (104^th) and limited corruption control (75^th).

The Grow pillar (89^th) is held back by low vocational enrolment (106^th) and modest tertiary participation (88^th), even though India performs well in business-masters education (16^th) and university rankings (21^st). Attract (130^th) and Retain (101^st) continue to show issues in openness and social inclusion.

India performs better in GA Skills (56^th), boosted by top global rankings in ICT services exports (1^st), strong AI talent concentration (17^th), and solid Talent Impact (38^th). VT Skills (119^th), however, remain weak, pointing to limited development of mid-level technical skills.

Overall, India’s growing digital strengths need to be matched with improved education quality and employability to support broader talent development.

Lastly, here are some of the other key messages from the report: 

1. Resilience in a disruptive world means learning how to bounce forward.
2. Societal resilience is much more than just resources.
3. Adaptability is a new driver of competitiveness.
4. Soft cooperative skills are increasingly enabling economies to upskill their talent and enhance workforce adaptability.
5. The absence of upper middle-income movers points to a possible “talent plateau.”
6. Outperformance is concentrated at both ends of the income spectrum.
7. High-impact talent competitiveness is driven not only by the scale of investment, but also through strategic focus and effective talent systems.
8. Regional contrasts highlight diverse pathways to talent competitiveness.
9. High-income economies from the Middle East continue to lead globally in attracting talent, underpinned by exceptional levels of external openness.
10. Singapore claims the top position in the GTCI, marking a defining milestone not only for the country but also for the ESAO region in its talent competitiveness journey.

For the full breakdown of the report, click here.

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Speaking at the launch event on 26 November 2025, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Shawn Huang, spoke about how this year's theme of the GTCI — Talent and Resilience: Navigating an Era of Disruption — comes at a time most relevant to the challenges the world is facing today. 

 "Geopolitical tensions are reshaping global supply chains overnight. Artificial intelligence is transforming entire industries in a matter of months, not years.

"In this environment, the question isn't whether disruption will come, it's whether we have the resilience to navigate it successfully." 

He shared that for Singapore, in particular, this question is particularly acute, as we are a small nation with no natural resources except for its people. 

"That's why we have consistently invested in human capital as part of our competitive advantage. Our strong performance in past editions of the GTCI is testament to these efforts."

How Singapore is developing a global talent hub

SPS Huang shared some of the initiatives that Singapore has introduced to position itself as a global hub for talent. These include: 

• The Overseas Networks & Expertise Pass, or ONE Pass, to bring in top global talent with valuable networks, deep skills and expertise, to complement our local workforce.
• Schemes such as the Overseas Markets Immersion Programme and Global Business Leaders Programme, where Singaporean talent are equipped with global market exposure and the savviness to navigate across cultures. 

"In Singapore, people are our greatest asset. We must embrace both local and global talent, to complement one another, learn from one another, and ultimately grow stronger together and to grow the economic pie for all – and in so doing, create a virtuous circle where new opportunities abound for all."

Building an AI-ready workforce 

SPS Huang also highlighted that in Singapore’s labour-constrained economy, AI exposure could present more opportunities than risks. Therefore, a high degree of exposure means greater scope for an AI-ready workforce to take on the full advantage of AI to transform Singapore's economy.

He raised two ways in which Singapore is hoping to prepare its workforce for an AI-ready workforce:

• There will be more demand for AI practitioners who can deploy AI tools and solutions at scale in their business domains.
• Beyond technical jobs, there are new roles being created in AI governance and ethics.

Furthermore, he emphasised that Singapore must not overlook soft skills that are AI-resilient, like creativity, critical thinking, emotional intelligence and leadership, as those will become more valuable as AI increasingly handles routine tasks. 

"So while we want our workforce to be AI-fluent and able to apply AI to their respective domains, we will also need to hone skills that are irreplaceable by AI."

"Most importantly, we need to cultivate adaptability itself as a core competency. In a world of constant change, the ability to learn, unlearn, and relearn becomes our most valuable skill."

Paving the way for human capital development

Lastly, SPS Huang shared that as Singapore makes its way towards a more adaptable and resilient workforce, "we must adapt our policies and strategies in a world of heightened disruption." 

He shared some ways the Government is taking a comprehensive view of the economic future as part of the ongoing Economic Strategy Review:

1. Bringing together leaders from the private sector, unions and educational institutes to chart Singapore's economic strategy for the medium term so as to remain competitive and resilient amidst global uncertainties. 
2. Human capital is one of five areas of the Economic Strategy Review, reflecting that talent strategy and economic strategy are indeed inseparable.

SPS Huang also added shared other platforms, such as the Alliance for Action on Advancing Career & Employment Services, and the Tripartite Workgroup on Senior Employment, to name a few, which are aimed to develop forward-thinking, innovative ideas that anticipate future challenges in close collaboration with unions and businesses in Singapore. 

In short, SPS Huang emphasised that building talent and resilience is more than just about government policy. He stated that for leaders, it is imperative to nurturing the workforce culture where people can grow, adapt and progress into new roles, in order to unlock wider talent pools and build more adaptable teams. 

For individuals, this means taking ownership of one's career health. 

"In an era of disruption, waiting for someone else to tell you how to upskill is a luxury that we cannot afford."

He concluded, saying: "Resilience isn't about returning to where we were before the disruption. It's about using that disruption as an opportunity to become stronger, more adaptable, and more innovative than we were before."

READ MORE: Career Health SG introduced as part of new national efforts to future-proof Singapore’s workforce

Infographics / GTCI 2025