Data for 2021

Economic Complexity Index, 2021

Name: Economic Complexity Index, 2021
Creator: Growth Lab at Harvard University
License: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/XTAQMC

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

Economic Complexity Index, 2021 covers 145 countries. Japan is highest, at 2.021; DR Congo is lowest, at -2.458. The middle country reads 0.001. Against 2020, 145 values changed (76 up, 69 down), the same countries are covered.

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Economic Complexity Index · Data for 2021

HighestJapan

2.021

LowestDR Congo

-2.458

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

145countries
1measure
2021the 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, 2021, 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, 2021: every country, as published by Growth Lab at Harvard University.

1	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	2.021
2	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	1.814
3	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	1.770
4	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	1.736
5	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	1.664
6	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	1.519
7	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	1.463
8	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	1.386
9	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	1.384
10	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	1.378
11	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	1.369
12	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	1.356
13	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	1.352
14	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	1.351
15	United States`USA`Northern America	1.274
16	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	1.248
17	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	1.246
18	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	1.237
19	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	1.230
20	France`FRA`Western Europe	1.213
21	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	1.200
22	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	1.091
23	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	1.089
24	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	1.056
25	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	1.051
26	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	1.046
27	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	1.031
28	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	1.010
29	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.955
30	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.937
31	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.933
32	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.884
33	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.874
34	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.858
35	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.854
36	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.818
37	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.817
38	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.803
39	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.748
40	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.733
41	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.709
42	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.708
43	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.693
44	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.687
45	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.686
46	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.643
47	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.581
48	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.571
49	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.547
50	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.537
51	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.472
52	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.441
53	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.439
54	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.416
55	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.358
56	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.343
57	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.334
58	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.300
59	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.272
60	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.252
61	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.249
62	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.232
63	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.187
64	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.178
65	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.139
66	Colombia`COL`South America	0.109
67	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.106
68	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.083
69	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.080
70	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.066
71	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.048
72	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.009
73	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.001
74	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	-0.007
75	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	-0.028
76	Uruguay`URY`South America	-0.049
77	Argentina`ARG`South America	-0.108
78	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	-0.110
79	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	-0.121
80	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	-0.138
81	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	-0.173
82	Chile`CHL`South America	-0.198
83	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	-0.202
84	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	-0.216
85	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	-0.220
86	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	-0.225
87	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	-0.316
88	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	-0.364
89	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	-0.404
90	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	-0.416
91	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	-0.423
92	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	-0.452
93	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	-0.470
94	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	-0.536
95	Paraguay`PRY`South America	-0.565
96	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	-0.615
97	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	-0.617
98	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	-0.621
99	Honduras`HND`Central America	-0.627
100	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	-0.650
101	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	-0.664
102	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	-0.696
103	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	-0.703
104	Peru`PER`South America	-0.714
105	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	-0.753
106	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	-0.766
107	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	-0.776
108	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	-0.897
109	Niger`NER`Western Africa	-0.940
110	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	-0.951
111	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	-0.987
112	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	-0.995
113	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	-1.032
114	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	-1.038
115	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	-1.048
116	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	-1.062
117	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	-1.088
118	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	-1.094
119	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	-1.107
120	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	-1.109
121	Ecuador`ECU`South America	-1.128
122	Venezuela`VEN`South America	-1.156
123	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	-1.206
124	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	-1.210
125	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	-1.212
126	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	-1.225
127	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	-1.231
128	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	-1.269
129	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	-1.317
130	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	-1.327
131	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	-1.344
132	Bolivia`BOL`South America	-1.380
133	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	-1.431
134	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	-1.491
135	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	-1.530
136	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	-1.541
137	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	-1.561
138	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	-1.723
139	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	-1.889
140	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	-1.931
141	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	-1.993
142	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	-2.050
143	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	-2.119
144	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	-2.329
145	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	-2.458

02In 2021

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

#1Japan2.021
#2Taiwan1.814
#3South Korea1.770
#4Switzerland1.736
#5Singapore1.664

Lowest

#145DR Congo-2.458
#144Guinea-2.329
#143Chad-2.119
#142Nigeria-2.050
#141Equatorial Guinea-1.993

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.001. “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
145values changed, of 145 in both
76 · 69rose · fell
0unchanged

Rose most

Sudan-2.251 → -1.561+0.690
Gabon-0.969 → -0.536+0.433
Malawi-1.437 → -1.062+0.375
Republic of the Congo-1.682 → -1.344+0.338
Liberia-1.501 → -1.206+0.295

Fell most

Panama0.752 → 0.187−0.565
Mongolia-1.087 → -1.541−0.454
Tajikistan-0.909 → -1.317−0.408
Qatar0.348 → 0.001−0.347
DR Congo-2.125 → -2.458−0.333

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 2021.
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-2021-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 (2021). Economic Complexity Index, 2021 [data set], describing 2021. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/economic-complexity/2021

0630 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Economic Complexity Index, 2020
145 countries
The year after ›
Economic Complexity Index, 2022
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