Skip to content
Nations Inquiry — home

Data for 2021

Complexity Outlook Index, 2021

2021, as Growth Lab at Harvard University’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Complexity Outlook Index, 2021 covers 145 countries. Spain is highest, at 3.017; Yemen is lowest, at -1.377. The middle country reads -0.208. Against 2020, 144 values changed (65 up, 79 down), the same countries are covered.

Download CSVCite this year
Share

Share this page

Complexity Outlook Index · Data for 2021

HighestSpain

3.017

LowestYemen

-1.377

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the highest end. Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score.

01Values only

The table

Every country and every column of Complexity Outlook Index, 2021, as published. The file carries values only, so no position is shown. “=” marks a shared position.

Showing 25 of 145 countries · select a heading to sort

Complexity Outlook Index, 2021: every country, as published by Growth Lab at Harvard University.
SpainESPSouthern Europe3.017
TürkiyeTURWestern Asia2.715
IndiaINDSouthern Asia2.705
PortugalPRTSouthern Europe2.137
NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe1.942
DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe1.675
TaiwanTWNEastern Asia1.653
PolandPOLEastern Europe1.574
BulgariaBGREastern Europe1.567
BelgiumBELWestern Europe1.373
CroatiaHRVSouthern Europe1.344
ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia1.290
United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe1.196
FinlandFINNorthern Europe1.185
CanadaCANNorthern America1.182
SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe1.167
LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe1.162
ItalyITASouthern Europe1.161
FranceFRAWestern Europe1.149
SerbiaSRBSouthern Europe1.124
SwedenSWENorthern Europe1.087
IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia1.075
SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe1.068
United StatesUSANorthern America1.061
EgyptEGYNorthern Africa1.023

02In 2021

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

  1. Spain3.017
  2. Türkiye2.715
  3. India2.705
  4. Portugal2.137
  5. Netherlands1.942

Lowest

  1. Yemen-1.377
  2. Germany-1.356
  3. Mauritania-1.335
  4. Nigeria-1.311
  5. Guinea-1.278

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads -0.208. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032020 → 2021

Since 2020

What changed between 2020 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

  • +0 / −0countries joined / left
  • 144values changed, of 145 in both
  • 65 · 79rose · fell
  • 1unchanged

Rose most

Fell most

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

The site’s method

  • One year of the 2026 release

    Every year in this series comes from Growth Lab at Harvard University’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 2021.

  • 139 distinct values among 145

    Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share 0.627. Countries sharing a value share a position too.

  • Which end is better

    Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score.

  • Nothing missing

    Every one of the 145 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC0 1.0. No conditions at all. Crediting the publisher is still the courteous thing to do.

Cite this edition

Growth Lab at Harvard University (2021). Complexity Outlook Index, 2021 [data set], describing 2021. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/complexity-outlook/2021

0630 held

Other years

07Questions

Complexity Outlook Index, 2021: questions and answers

Which country has the highest complexity outlook in Complexity Outlook Index, 2021?

Spain, at 3.017, of the 145 countries in the file.

What year does Complexity Outlook Index, 2021 describe?

2021.

How many countries does Complexity Outlook Index, 2021 cover?

145.

Where can I download Complexity Outlook Index, 2021?

On this page, as a CSV file holding every value exactly as published, or from the publisher’s own site, linked below.

Is Complexity Outlook Index, 2021 the newest?

No. The newest held here is Complexity Outlook Index, 2024.

Feedback

Feedback

How are we doing?

Two answers are required — a rating and your email. The rest is up to you.