Data for 2018

Economic Complexity Index, 2018

Name: Economic Complexity Index, 2018
Creator: Growth Lab at Harvard University
License: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/XTAQMC

2018, as Growth Lab at Harvard University’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Economic Complexity Index, 2018 covers 145 countries. Japan is highest, at 2.044; Papua New Guinea is lowest, at -2.398. The middle country reads -0.015. Against 2017, 143 values changed (74 up, 69 down), the same countries are covered.

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Economic Complexity Index · Data for 2018

HighestJapan

2.044

LowestPapua New Guinea

-2.398

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the better end.

145countries
1measure
2018the year it describes
145distinct values3 decimals, as published
Sep 6, 2026read from the publisher
Public domain or CC0licence

01Growth Lab at Harvard University’s rank

The table

Every country and every column of Economic Complexity Index, 2018, as published. The rank is Growth Lab at Harvard University’s own, as printed. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 145 countries · select a heading to sort

Economic Complexity Index, 2018: every country, as published by Growth Lab at Harvard University.

1	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	2.044
2	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	1.797
3	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	1.752
4	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	1.742
5	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	1.631
6	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	1.543
7	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	1.484
8	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	1.400
9	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	1.396
10	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	1.393
11	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	1.379
12	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	1.311
13	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	1.291
14	United States`USA`Northern America	1.280
15	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	1.269
16	France`FRA`Western Europe	1.233
17	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	1.228
18	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	1.219
19	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	1.207
20	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	1.205
21	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	1.168
22	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	1.149
23	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	1.093
24	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	1.053
25	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	1.010
26	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	1.009
27	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	1.006
28	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	1.001
29	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.931
30	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.925
31	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.922
32	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.903
33	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.893
34	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.884
35	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.871
36	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.844
37	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.793
38	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.746
39	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.715
40	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.714
41	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.710
42	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.706
43	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.700
44	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.683
45	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.682
46	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.651
47	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.593
48	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.581
49	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.532
50	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.513
51	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.512
52	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.495
53	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.460
54	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.429
55	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.412
56	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.377
57	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.351
58	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.348
59	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.296
60	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.292
61	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.229
62	Colombia`COL`South America	0.195
63	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.168
64	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.156
65	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.151
66	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.150
67	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.123
68	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.068
69	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.060
70	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.054
71	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.032
72	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.011
73	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	-0.015
74	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	-0.025
75	Uruguay`URY`South America	-0.026
76	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	-0.056
77	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	-0.061
78	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	-0.067
79	Chile`CHL`South America	-0.079
80	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	-0.108
81	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	-0.141
82	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	-0.145
83	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	-0.161
84	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	-0.166
85	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	-0.208
86	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	-0.257
87	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	-0.327
88	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	-0.339
89	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	-0.349
90	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	-0.351
91	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	-0.352
92	Honduras`HND`Central America	-0.429
93	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	-0.445
94	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	-0.458
95	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	-0.499
96	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	-0.504
97	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	-0.539
98	Niger`NER`Western Africa	-0.569
99	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	-0.599
100	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	-0.618
101	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	-0.637
102	Paraguay`PRY`South America	-0.670
103	Peru`PER`South America	-0.684
104	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	-0.729
105	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	-0.758
106	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	-0.772
107	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	-0.831
108	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	-0.866
109	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	-0.894
110	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	-0.895
111	Venezuela`VEN`South America	-0.909
112	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	-0.972
113	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	-0.989
114	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	-1.002
115	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	-1.007
116	Ecuador`ECU`South America	-1.011
117	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	-1.017
118	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	-1.023
119	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	-1.029
120	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	-1.097
121	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	-1.103
122	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	-1.116
123	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	-1.127
124	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	-1.164
125	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	-1.244
126	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	-1.316
127	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	-1.325
128	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	-1.342
129	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	-1.354
130	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	-1.398
131	Bolivia`BOL`South America	-1.464
132	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	-1.477
133	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	-1.487
134	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	-1.508
135	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	-1.604
136	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	-1.613
137	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	-1.708
138	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	-1.762
139	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	-1.911
140	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	-2.067
141	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	-2.102
142	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	-2.118
143	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	-2.181
144	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	-2.198
145	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	-2.398

02In 2018

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

#1Japan2.044
#2South Korea1.797
#3Switzerland1.752
#4Taiwan1.742
#5Singapore1.631

Lowest

#145Papua New Guinea-2.398
#144Nigeria-2.198
#143Equatorial Guinea-2.181
#142Chad-2.118
#141Yemen-2.102

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads -0.015. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032017 → 2018

Since 2017

What changed between 2017 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
143values changed, of 145 in both
74 · 69rose · fell
2unchanged

Rose most

Tanzania-1.104 → -0.025+1.079
Guinea-2.292 → -1.708+0.584
Iraq-2.012 → -1.613+0.399
Mauritania-1.856 → -1.508+0.348
Burkina Faso-1.463 → -1.127+0.336

Fell most

Angola-0.988 → -1.604−0.616
Cameroon-0.900 → -1.398−0.498
Libya-1.346 → -1.762−0.416
DR Congo-1.667 → -2.067−0.400
Algeria-0.979 → -1.354−0.375

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.

How values are stored

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 2018.
The rank is Growth Lab at Harvard University’s
Printed as the publisher ranked the countries; never re-ranked here.
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

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
145 rows · 4.5 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download economic-complexity-2018-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
Growth Lab at Harvard University’s own file, on its own site.
13439575

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 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

Growth Lab at Harvard University (2018). Economic Complexity Index, 2018 [data set], describing 2018. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/economic-complexity/2018

0630 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Economic Complexity Index, 2017
145 countries
The year after ›
Economic Complexity Index, 2019
145 countries
All of them
Economic Complexity Index: every year
30 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions