This report presents the 2015 edition of the Global Creativity Index, or GCI. The GCI is a broad-based measure for advanced economic growth and sustainable prosperity based on the 3Ts of economic development — talent, technology, and tolerance. It rates and ranks 139 nations worldwide on each of these dimensions and on our overall measure of creativity and prosperity.
Overall Ranking: Australia takes the number one ranking on the GCI, supplanting Sweden, which took top spot in the previous 2004 and 2011 editions. The United States is second (maintaining its previous ranking). New Zealand is third, Canada fourth (up three spots from its previous ranking), with Denmark and Finland tied for fifth. The rest of the top ten includes Sweden in seventh, Iceland eighth, Singapore ninth, and the Netherlands tenth.
Creative Class: Luxembourg has the largest share of the creative class (54 percent) — which spans science and technology; arts and culture; and business, management, and the professions. Bermuda is second (48 percent), Singapore third (47 percent), down from first in 2011. Switzerland (47 percent) is fourth and Iceland (45 percent) is fifth. Rounding out the top ten are Australia (45 percent), Sweden (45 percent), the Netherlands (44 percent), Canada (44 percent), and the United Kingdom (44 percent). The United States is 34th with 33 percent.
Technology: South Korea leads in technology. Japan is second, Israel third, the United States fourth, and Finland is fifth. Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Singapore, and Denmark round out the top ten.
Talent: Australia leads in talent. Iceland is second. The United States and Finland are tied for third with Singapore in fifth. Denmark, Slovenia, Belarus, New Zealand, and Sweden round out the top ten.
Tolerance: Canada takes the top spot in tolerance which we measure as openness to ethnic and religious minorities and gay and lesbian people. Iceland is second, New Zealand third, Australia fourth, and the United Kingdom fifth. The Netherlands, Uruguay, Ireland, Norway, and Sweden round out the top ten.
Creativity, Competitiveness, and Prosperity: Global creativity, as measured by the GCI, is closely connected to the economic development, competitiveness, and prosperity of nations. Countries that score highly on the GCI have higher levels of productivity (measured as economic output per person), competitiveness, entrepreneurship, and overall human development. Creativity is also closely connected to urbanization, with more urbanized nations scoring higher on the GCI.
The GCI is associated with higher levels of equality. Nations that rank highly on the GCI also tend to be, on balance, more equal societies. There are two approaches to balancing creative economic growth and inequality. A high road path, associated with the Scandinavian nations, combines high levels of creative competitiveness with relatively low levels of inequality. The low road path, associated with the United States and the United Kingdom, combines high levels of creative competitiveness with much higher levels of inequality.
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The Global Creativity Index — Overall rankings (Appendix 4)
Rank | Country | Technology | Talent | Tolerance | Global Creativity Index |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Australia | 7 | 1 | 4 | 0.970 |
2 | United States | 4 | 3 | 11 | 0.950 |
3 | New Zealand | 7 | 8 | 3 | 0.949 |
4 | Canada | 13 | 14 | 1 | 0.920 |
5 | Denmark | 10 | 6 | 13 | 0.917 |
5 | Finland | 5 | 3 | 20 | 0.917 |
7 | Sweden | 11 | 8 | 10 | 0.915 |
8 | Iceland | 26 | 2 | 2 | 0.913 |
9 | Singapore | 7 | 5 | 23 | 0.896 |
10 | Netherlands | 20 | 11 | 6 | 0.889 |
11 | Norway | 18 | 12 | 9 | 0.883 |
12 | United Kingdom | 15 | 20 | 5 | 0.881 |
13 | Ireland | 23 | 21 | 7 | 0.845 |
14 | Germany | 7 | 28 | 18 | 0.837 |
16 | Switzerland | 19 | 22 | 17 | 0.822 |
16 | France | 16 | 26 | 16 | 0.822 |
16 | Slovenia | 17 | 8 | 35 | 0.822 |
18 | Belgium | 28 | 18 | 14 | 0.817 |
19 | Spain | 31 | 19 | 12 | 0.811 |
20 | Austria | 12 | 26 | 32 | 0.788 |
21 | Hong Kong | 32 | 32 | 30 | 0.715 |
21 | Italy | 25 | 31 | 38 | 0.715 |
23 | Portugal | 35 | 36 | 22 | 0.710 |
24 | Japan | 2 | 58 | 39 | 0.708 |
25 | Luxembourg | 20 | 48 | 32 | 0.696 |
26 | Uruguay | 48 | 45 | 7 | 0.688 |
27 | Argentina | 48 | 35 | 19 | 0.681 |
28 | Hungary | 34 | 33 | 41 | 0.673 |
29 | Brazil | 27 | 68 | 15 | 0.667 |
30 | Israel | 3 | 28 | 93 | 0.665 |
31 | South Korea | 1 | 50 | 70 | 0.660 |
32 | Nicaragua | 56 | — | 27 | 0.631 |
33 | Estonia | 33 | 16 | 87 | 0.625 |
34 | Chile | 56 | 39 | 31 | 0.611 |
35 | Czech Republic | 29 | 30 | 80 | 0.609 |
36 | Costa Rica | 47 | 61 | 20 | 0.607 |
37 | Belarus | 41 | 8 | 97 | 0.598 |
38 | Russian Federation | 22 | 15 | 123 | 0.579 |
39 | South Africa | 30 | 62 | 57 | 0.564 |
40 | Latvia | 54 | 22 | 77 | 0.563 |
41 | Cuba | 94 | 17 | 37 | 0.556 |
42 | Laos | — | 97 | 23 | 0.555 |
43 | Malta | 73 | 49 | 25 | 0.550 |
44 | Ecuador | 43 | 90 | 25 | 0.532 |
45 | Ukraine | 43 | 24 | 105 | 0.518 |
46 | Poland | 46 | 25 | 101 | 0.516 |
46 | Montenegro | 51 | 34 | 83 | 0.516 |
48 | Bulgaria | 78 | 38 | 47 | 0.505 |
49 | Belize | — | 88 | 48 | 0.504 |
50 | Jamaica | 42 | 79 | 49 | 0.502 |
51 | Lithuania | 65 | 12 | 105 | 0.490 |
52 | Philippines | 54 | 65 | 53 | 0.487 |
54 | Slovak Republic | 69 | 42 | 66 | 0.484 |
54 | Serbia | 70 | 45 | 58 | 0.484 |
54 | Greece | 39 | 43 | 101 | 0.484 |
56 | Panama | 70 | 67 | 34 | 0.482 |
57 | Iran | — | 71 | 72 | 0.481 |
58 | Croatia | 60 | 39 | 81 | 0.481 |
59 | Mauritius | — | 76 | 68 | 0.477 |
60 | Venezuela | 40 | 83 | 61 | 0.466 |
61 | Botswana | — | 73 | 75 | 0.462 |
62 | China | 14 | 87 | 96 | 0.462 |
63 | Malaysia | 24 | 69 | 101 | 0.455 |
64 | Guatemala | 102 | 37 | 44 | 0.449 |
64 | Georgia | 35 | 82 | 78 | 0.449 |
66 | Cyprus | 96 | 44 | 45 | 0.446 |
67 | Trinidad and Tobago | 111 | 52 | 28 | 0.433 |
68 | Romania | 65 | 60 | 76 | 0.425 |
69 | Peru | 62 | 79 | 60 | 0.418 |
70 | Kenya | 82 | — | 52 | 0.417 |
71 | Colombia | 89 | 75 | 36 | 0.410 |
72 | Cameroon | — | 103 | 59 | 0.408 |
73 | Mexico | 54 | 94 | 56 | 0.407 |
74 | Macedonia | 76 | 63 | 70 | 0.391 |
75 | Syrian Arab Republic | — | 85 | 84 | 0.382 |
75 | Burkina Faso | — | 122 | 46 | 0.382 |
77 | Macao | 80 | 56 | — | 0.381 |
78 | Dominican Republic | 63 | 81 | 74 | 0.380 |
78 | Jordan | 37 | 63 | 127 | 0.380 |
80 | Vietnam | 45 | 104 | 73 | 0.377 |
81 | Mongolia | 75 | 47 | 98 | 0.370 |
82 | Thailand | 38 | 84 | 105 | 0.365 |
83 | Saudi Arabia | 50 | 59 | 122 | 0.362 |
84 | Kazakhstan | 72 | 54 | 98 | 0.357 |
85 | Senegal | — | 112 | 64 | 0.355 |
86 | Kuwait | 108 | — | 39 | 0.351 |
87 | Afghanistan | — | 124 | 54 | 0.349 |
88 | Turkey | 58 | 53 | 123 | 0.348 |
89 | Mali | — | 114 | 64 | 0.347 |
90 | Mozambique | 63 | 117 | 50 | 0.346 |
91 | Bermuda | 104 | 41 | — | 0.346 |
92 | Nepal | 97 | 99 | 29 | 0.343 |
93 | Honduras | 60 | 93 | 89 | 0.319 |
94 | Lebanon | — | 55 | 132 | 0.317 |
95 | Bangladesh | 90 | 101 | 43 | 0.316 |
96 | Benin | — | 101 | 86 | 0.311 |
97 | Paraguay | 90 | 86 | 69 | 0.303 |
98 | Ethiopia | 103 | 95 | 42 | 0.295 |
99 | India | 52 | 92 | 108 | 0.292 |
100 | Uzbekistan | 74 | 111 | 64 | 0.288 |
101 | Central African Republic | — | 128 | 67 | 0.286 |
102 | Algeria | 68 | 77 | 116 | 0.279 |
103 | Armenia | 83 | 50 | 133 | 0.269 |
104 | Tunisia | — | 72 | 131 | 0.260 |
105 | Moldova | 85 | 57 | 128 | 0.256 |
106 | Sri Lanka | 100 | 96 | 61 | 0.255 |
107 | Qatar | 58 | 122 | — | 0.255 |
108 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 77 | 70 | 119 | 0.253 |
109 | El Salvador | 109 | 100 | 50 | 0.248 |
110 | Azerbaijan | 98 | 78 | 92 | 0.244 |
111 | Pakistan | 100 | 110 | 54 | 0.240 |
111 | Kyrgyz Republic | 100 | 74 | 94 | 0.240 |
113 | Cambodia | 87 | 118 | 78 | 0.213 |
114 | Tajikistan | 106 | 90 | 85 | 0.205 |
115 | Indonesia | 67 | 108 | 115 | 0.202 |
116 | Albania | 83 | 90 | 118 | 0.197 |
117 | Uganda | — | 108 | 109 | 0.197 |
118 | Egypt | 93 | 66 | 134 | 0.196 |
119 | Niger | — | 132 | 89 | 0.185 |
120 | Morocco | 78 | 98 | 120 | 0.178 |
121 | Haiti | 88 | — | 117 | 0.174 |
122 | Cote d'Ivoire | 94 | 115 | 89 | 0.171 |
123 | Chad | — | 130 | 95 | 0.170 |
124 | Lesotho | 112 | 104 | 82 | 0.162 |
125 | Angola | — | 113 | 114 | 0.160 |
126 | Rwanda | 80 | 130 | 113 | 0.141 |
127 | Malawi | — | 133 | 101 | 0.135 |
128 | Tanzania | — | 127 | 110 | 0.126 |
129 | Burundi | 107 | 125 | 89 | 0.125 |
130 | Guinea | — | 126 | 111 | 0.124 |
131 | Zimbabwe | — | 129 | 111 | 0.113 |
132 | Yemen | 86 | 106 | 135 | 0.112 |
133 | Liberia | — | 121 | 120 | 0.109 |
134 | Zambia | 92 | 107 | 129 | 0.103 |
135 | Mauritania | — | 119 | 126 | 0.095 |
135 | Djibouti | — | 120 | 125 | 0.095 |
137 | Madagascar | 105 | 134 | 107 | 0.077 |
138 | Ghana | — | 116 | 136 | 0.073 |
139 | Iraq | 110 | — | 130 | 0.032 |