Singapore has claimed the top position in the 2025 Global Talent Competitiveness Index for the first time, dethroning Switzerland after the European nation held the crown for ten consecutive years since the index was launched in 2013.
The city-state's rise was driven by its robust education systems, effective governance, high standard of living, and proactive approach to sustaining an adaptive, innovation-ready workforce in the age of artificial intelligence, according to the report produced by INSEAD business school and Portulans Institute.
Singapore topped the ranking for generalist adaptive skills encompassing soft skills, digital literacy and innovation-oriented thinking, while also making a sharp improvement in talent retention by jumping seven places from 38th in 2023 to 31st this year due to gains in physician density, personal rights, and personal safety.
Switzerland maintained strong performance with top-five rankings in several factors including first in internet access in schools, second in government effectiveness, and fourth in AI skills migration, while Denmark, Finland, and Sweden rounded out the top five positions.
Professor Paul Evans, INSEAD's emeritus professor of organizational behavior and co-editor of the report, noted that talent competitiveness is influenced not just by income level but by strategic policy direction, institutional quality, and effective use of human capital, with the United States falling from third place in 2023 to ninth in 2025 for the first time in the index's history.
