World Bank Group · Management Practices Index
Management practices by country
How well are medium and large firms managed?
Norway placed first of the 169 countries compared in the 2026 edition, at 69.2880, and Mali last, at 28.0683. In the middle country the figure was 52.3891.
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Part ofEconomy & Innovation
Management practices · the 2026 edition
Context statistic
Highest of 169Norway
69.288001the 2026 edition · position · derived
Who leads
The three countries at the highest end of 169 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
1Photo: Ximonic , Simo Räsänen · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
2Photo: Chris · CC BY-SA 2.0, greyscale
3Photo: Simon Koopmann derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY-SA 2.0 de, greyscale
Lowest in the 2026 edition
- 169
Mali28.0683 - 168
South Africa28.3305 - 167
Mauritania31.4961
Positions out of 169. Where a country sits says how it compares with the others measured, and nothing about why.
02Every measured country
Management practices on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a higher value — the better end.
- 28.0683–43.8717
- 44.1759–50.1735
- 50.3136–54.6065
- 54.6907–60.3820
- 60.3835–69.2880
- No reading in the 2026 edition
- Oceania
58.4816
the middle country, of 9 measured · 21 members
Australia67.1827
Tonga50.0960Highest and lowest reading in Oceania.
- Europe
55.5110
the middle country, of 40 measured · 49 members
Norway69.2880
Italy38.8396Highest and lowest reading in Europe.
- Americas
55.4048
the middle country, of 26 measured · 48 members
Guatemala66.2837
Panama37.4671Highest and lowest reading in Americas.
- Asia
50.7557
the middle country, of 44 measured · 52 members
Cambodia68.6045
Thailand35.8326Highest and lowest reading in Asia.
- Africa
48.2249
the middle country, of 50 measured · 55 members
Liberia64.2020Mali28.0683Highest and lowest reading in Africa.
- Every region
22 sub-regions, highest middle country first
- Northern Europe
58.8512
the middle country, of 10 measured · 13 members
Norway69.2880
Lithuania45.9242Highest and lowest reading in Northern Europe.
- Caribbean
56.6633
the middle country, of 8 measured · 24 members
Trinidad and Tobago62.3386
Grenada48.3216Highest and lowest reading in Caribbean.
- Western Europe
55.8515
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
Switzerland67.4711
Austria39.2485Highest and lowest reading in Western Europe.
- Eastern Asia
54.8875
the middle country, of 6 measured · 8 members
Mongolia66.5460
South Korea45.4156Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Asia.
- South America
54.8676
the middle country, of 10 measured · 12 members
Suriname63.3545
Paraguay48.4202Highest and lowest reading in South America.
- Southern Europe
54.5813
the middle country, of 13 measured · 17 members
Montenegro66.2452Italy38.8396Highest and lowest reading in Southern Europe.
- Eastern Africa
52.7435
the middle country, of 17 measured · 19 members
Kenya61.4448
Comoros31.8005Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Africa.
- South-eastern Asia
52.3550
the middle country, of 10 measured · 11 members
Cambodia68.6045Thailand35.8326Highest and lowest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Central Asia
51.6849
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Kazakhstan65.1629
Uzbekistan39.0034Highest and lowest reading in Central Asia.
- Eastern Europe
50.2758
the middle country, of 10 measured · 10 members
Slovakia61.2683
Poland43.3898Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Western Asia
50.0985
the middle country, of 15 measured · 19 members
Israel66.6947
Türkiye40.2376Highest and lowest reading in Western Asia.
- Middle Africa
49.7466
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Equatorial Guinea58.4898
Central African Republic38.2963Highest and lowest reading in Middle Africa.
- Central America
49.3532
the middle country, of 6 measured · 8 members
Guatemala66.2837Panama37.4671Highest and lowest reading in Central America.
- Southern Africa
47.0011
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Namibia58.2479South Africa28.3305Highest and lowest reading in Southern Africa.
- Southern Asia
45.9913
the middle country, of 8 measured · 9 members
Maldives63.5231
Bangladesh36.1946Highest and lowest reading in Southern Asia.
- Western Africa
41.8081
the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members
Liberia64.2020Mali28.0683Highest and lowest reading in Western Africa.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
Australia67.1827
New Zealand55.4346Highest and lowest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Melanesia
4 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu.
Papua New Guinea63.4435
Vanuatu53.0981Highest and lowest reading in Melanesia.
- Micronesia
1 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Kiribati.
Kiribati57.5577Highest and lowest reading in Micronesia.
- Northern Africa
3 of 6 measured — too few for a middle: Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia.
Egypt54.3680
Morocco31.9977Highest and lowest reading in Northern Africa.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.
United States63.6791
Canada62.7748Highest and lowest reading in Northern America.
- Polynesia
2 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Samoa, Tonga.
Samoa63.7214Tonga50.0960Highest and lowest reading in Polynesia.
03The whole field at once
The spread
169 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 52.3891; a quarter are above 58.4816, and a quarter below 45.4156. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 169 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first. “=” marks a position shared with another country. World Bank Group ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. Only firms with 20 or more employees are asked, and the answers are managers' own accounts of how they work, so some results surprise. Small firms, which employ most workers in many countries, are outside the index. Survey years differ between countries — check the year beside each reading.
Showing 25 of 169 countries
Values for the 2026 edition.
05In this edition
Management practices in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading
69.2880
Management practices index, medium and large firms (0–100)
Lowest reading
28.0683
Management practices index, medium and large firms (0–100)
06The measure
About management practices
The management practices index scores how medium and large firms are run — whether they act on problems, track performance, set demanding targets and reward or promote staff on results — from eight questions in the World Bank's Enterprise Surveys. Research on management links structured practices like these to higher productivity.
What the number is: Management practices index, medium and large firms (0–100).
07Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
Context, with no vote
This statistic is published in full under Economy & Innovation, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Moves with
Where management practices is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Firms Offering Formal TrainingWorld Bank Group · 169 countries in commonρ 0.49
- Firms with Their Own WebsiteWorld Bank Group · 169 countries in commonρ 0.45
- GNI per Capita (PPP)World Bank Group · 96 countries in commonρ 0.43
Moves against
Where management practices is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Coefficient of Human InequalityUNDP Human Development Report Office · 153 countries in commonρ −0.40
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 376 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
08Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
The data, edition by edition
The countries at either end
More from World Bank Group
09Questions
Management practices: questions and answers
Which country has the highest management practices?
Norway, at 69.2880, among the 169 countries compared in the 2026 edition.
Which country has the lowest management practices?
Mali, at 28.0683, among the 169 countries compared in the 2026 edition.
How many countries does the Management Practices Index cover?
169 in the 2026 edition.
What is the world average management practices?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 169 compared in the 2026 edition, the figure was 52.3891.
Is this World Bank Group’s own ranking?
No. World Bank Group publishes the values but ranks nobody; the position on this page is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values, and equal values share a position.
How often is the Management Practices Index published?
This site holds one edition, describing 2026.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From World Bank Group, under CC BY 4.0. World Bank Enterprise Surveys on Data360, read from the full-precision bulk file, one reading per country from its most recent survey. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
10Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Management Practices Index — World Bank Group
World Bank Enterprise Surveys on Data360, read from the full-precision bulk file, one reading per country from its most recent survey.
Newest edition
Report year 2026Data year not recorded
Cite the source as: World Bank. Enterprise Surveys. Washington, DC: World Bank Group.
Licence: CC BY 4.0, checked 2026-10-03.
How this page reads the numbers
- World Bank Group ranks nobody on this measure. The position is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values; equal values share a position.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- The file gives each country’s most recent reading, so the rows are from different years. Readings from before 2016 are listed but left out of every comparison on this page.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Photographs
The countries at the top of this statistic, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Norway — Ximonic , Simo Räsänen, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Cambodia — Chris, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Switzerland — Simon Koopmann derivative work: Jjtkk, CC BY-SA 2.0 de
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Management practices by country: Management Practices Index, data from World Bank Group. https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/management-practices