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The Global Creativity Index 2015

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)

RankCountryTechnologyTalentToleranceGlobal Creativity Index
1Australia7140.970
2United States43110.950
3New Zealand7830.949
4Canada131410.920
5Denmark106130.917
5Finland53200.917
7Sweden118100.915
8Iceland26220.913
9Singapore75230.896
10Netherlands201160.889
11Norway181290.883
12United Kingdom152050.881
13Ireland232170.845
14Germany728180.837
16Switzerland1922170.822
16France1626160.822
16Slovenia178350.822
18Belgium2818140.817
19Spain3119120.811
20Austria1226320.788
21Hong Kong3232300.715
21Italy2531380.715
23Portugal3536220.710
24Japan258390.708
25Luxembourg2048320.696
26Uruguay484570.688
27Argentina4835190.681
28Hungary3433410.673
29Brazil2768150.667
30Israel328930.665
31South Korea150700.660
32Nicaragua56270.631
33Estonia3316870.625
34Chile5639310.611
35Czech Republic2930800.609
36Costa Rica4761200.607
37Belarus418970.598
38Russian Federation22151230.579
39South Africa3062570.564
40Latvia5422770.563
41Cuba9417370.556
42Laos97230.555
43Malta7349250.550
44Ecuador4390250.532
45Ukraine43241050.518
46Poland46251010.516
46Montenegro5134830.516
48Bulgaria7838470.505
49Belize88480.504
50Jamaica4279490.502
51Lithuania65121050.490
52Philippines5465530.487
54Slovak Republic6942660.484
54Serbia7045580.484
54Greece39431010.484
56Panama7067340.482
57Iran71720.481
58Croatia6039810.481
59Mauritius76680.477
60Venezuela4083610.466
61Botswana73750.462
62China1487960.462
63Malaysia24691010.455
64Guatemala10237440.449
64Georgia3582780.449
66Cyprus9644450.446
67Trinidad and Tobago11152280.433
68Romania6560760.425
69Peru6279600.418
70Kenya82520.417
71Colombia8975360.410
72Cameroon103590.408
73Mexico5494560.407
74Macedonia7663700.391
75Syrian Arab Republic85840.382
75Burkina Faso122460.382
77Macao80560.381
78Dominican Republic6381740.380
78Jordan37631270.380
80Vietnam45104730.377
81Mongolia7547980.370
82Thailand38841050.365
83Saudi Arabia50591220.362
84Kazakhstan7254980.357
85Senegal112640.355
86Kuwait108390.351
87Afghanistan124540.349
88Turkey58531230.348
89Mali114640.347
90Mozambique63117500.346
91Bermuda104410.346
92Nepal9799290.343
93Honduras6093890.319
94Lebanon551320.317
95Bangladesh90101430.316
96Benin101860.311
97Paraguay9086690.303
98Ethiopia10395420.295
99India52921080.292
100Uzbekistan74111640.288
101Central African Republic128670.286
102Algeria68771160.279
103Armenia83501330.269
104Tunisia721310.260
105Moldova85571280.256
106Sri Lanka10096610.255
107Qatar581220.255
108Bosnia and Herzegovina77701190.253
109El Salvador109100500.248
110Azerbaijan9878920.244
111Pakistan100110540.240
111Kyrgyz Republic10074940.240
113Cambodia87118780.213
114Tajikistan10690850.205
115Indonesia671081150.202
116Albania83901180.197
117Uganda1081090.197
118Egypt93661340.196
119Niger132890.185
120Morocco78981200.178
121Haiti881170.174
122Cote d'Ivoire94115890.171
123Chad130950.170
124Lesotho112104820.162
125Angola1131140.160
126Rwanda801301130.141
127Malawi1331010.135
128Tanzania1271100.126
129Burundi107125890.125
130Guinea1261110.124
131Zimbabwe1291110.113
132Yemen861061350.112
133Liberia1211200.109
134Zambia921071290.103
135Mauritania1191260.095
135Djibouti1201250.095
137Madagascar1051341070.077
138Ghana1161360.073
139Iraq1101300.032