Social Capital Index

The Social Capital of a nation is the sum of social stability and the well-being (perceived or real) of the entire population. Social Capital generates social cohesion and a certain level of consensus, which in turn delivers a stable environment for the economy, and prevents natural resources from being over-exploited.

In addition to local historical and cultural influences, the social consensus in a society is affected by several factors: health care systems and their universal availability/affordability (measuring physical health); income and asset equality, which are correlated to crime levels; demographic structure (to assess the future generational balance within a society); freedom of expression and freedom from fear; and the absence of violent conflicts. Only in these circumstances can the economy flourish, generate value, jobs and income for the population. The Socail Capital Index is based on indicators related to the following clusters:

Social Capital World Map

Downloads

GSCI 2023

Download the report: [download id="10255"](PDF) Download the data: [download id="10205"](XLSX)

Download the report: The Global Sustainable Competitiveness Report 2023 (PDF) Download the data: GSCI Scores 2023 (XLSX)

Sustainable & Competitive

Achieving Sustainable Competitiveness: policies for more sustainable AND more prosperous societies: Sustainable. Competitive.

State of the World – Social Capital

The global average Social Capital Score is 44 – a gap of 56 to a perfect state – while the global best is 66. Not surprisingly, the nations in the North (particularly Scandinavia) are significantly ahead of countries in the South (particular Africa and Central Asia).

Only 48% of all indicators across all nations show positive development, while 38% are negative, and 14% do not show a clear trend in either direction. The high number of negative developments reflects the decline of equality across the globe.

Global Social Capital Scores

Lowest

Global Average

Global Best

Ideal World

Global Social Capital Trends

Positive Trends

No Trend

Negative Trends

The Social Capital Index 2023 – Key Observations

The Social Capital Index is topped by Finland. Iceland, Norway and Sweden are also in the top 10, with Denmark on 12
The top 30 of the Social Capital sub-index is dominated by Western European countries and the Baltics – except for Japan (4) and South Korea (14), and the United Arab Emirates (24)
The USA, due to comparable high crime rates, low availability of health services, and rising inequality, is
ranked 89, just below Tajikistan and above Tunesia.
China is ranked 47, India 100, Nigeria 137, and Brazil 138
The highest ranked South American countries are Costa Rica (56), followed by Argentina (58), Peru (66), Uruguay (67) and Chile (70);
the highest-ranking African nations are Senegal (63), Algeria (81), and Tunisia (91)
Most African nations, particular within and south of the Sahel zone, are at the bottom of this list, due to a combination of low availability of health care services and child mortality, limited freedom of expression, and unstable human rights situation

2023 Social Capital Ranking

Rank	Country	Score
1	Finland	65.8
2	Iceland	64.9
3	Slovenia	63.7
4	Japan	63.6
5	Norway	63.5
6	Sweden	62.4
7	Estonia	61.0
8	Netherlands	60.9
9	North Macedonia	60.8
10	Armenia	60.7
11	Portugal	59.9
12	Denmark	59.9
13	Belgium	59.1
14	South Korea	59.1
15	Italy	58.9
16	Austria	58.0
17	Spain	57.8
18	Lithuania	57.7
19	Switzerland	57.4
20	Albania	57.3
21	France	57.2
22	Czech Republic	57.2
23	Moldova	57.0
24	United Arab Emirates	57.0
25	Ireland	56.8
26	Slovakia	56.5
27	Cyprus	56.1
28	Croatia	55.8
29	Poland	55.3
30	Germany	55.3
31	Luxembourg	55.1
32	Maldives	54.6
33	Latvia	54.5
34	United Kingdom	53.8
35	Malta	53.8
36	Montenegro	53.0
37	Singapore	53.0
38	Serbia	52.7
39	Belarus	52.5
40	New Zealand	52.4
41	Canada	52.3
42	Uzbekistan	52.2
43	Hungary	52.1
44	Bosnia and Herzegovina	51.9
45	Romania	51.9
46	Australia	51.7
47	China	51.4
48	Greece	51.1
49	Georgia	50.9
50	Timor-Leste	50.6
51	Seychelles	50.5
52	Ukraine	50.4
53	Kyrgistan	50.3
54	Qatar	50.0
55	Indonesia	49.8
56	Costa Rica	49.3
57	Thailand	49.2
58	Argentina	49.2
59	Bulgaria	49.0
60	Israel	49.0

Rank	Country	Score
61	Mongolia	48.7
62	Sri Lanka	48.4
63	Senegal	47.8
64	Mauritius	47.7
65	Malaysia	47.7
66	Peru	47.3
67	Uruguay	47.0
68	Kazakhstan	46.3
69	Ecuador	46.3
70	Chile	45.9
71	Bolivia	45.8
72	Kuwait	45.5
73	Nepal	45.3
74	El Salvador	45.2
75	Tonga	45.2
76	Azerbaijan	44.6
77	Sao Tome and Principe	44.3
78	Saudi Arabia	44.1
79	Bhutan	44.0
80	Philippines	43.9
81	Algeria	43.9
82	Trinidad and Tobago	43.7
83	Oman	43.3
84	Vietnam	43.2
85	Russia	43.1
86	Cape Verde	43.0
87	Brunei	42.9
88	Tajikistan	42.8
89	USA	42.5
90	Grenada	42.4
91	Tunisia	42.1
92	Tanzania	41.9
93	Dominican Republic	41.7
94	Burma	41.5
95	Lebanon	41.4
96	Ghana	41.3
97	Paraguay	41.1
98	Solomon Islands	40.9
99	Malawi	40.6
100	India	40.4
101	Jordan	40.2
102	Vanuatu	40.2
103	Kenya	39.9
104	Panama	39.8
105	Turkmenistan	39.6
106	Cuba	39.4
107	Turkey	39.4
108	Guyana	38.9
109	Sierra Leone	38.6
110	Bahrain	38.6
111	Cote d'Ivoire	38.5
112	Guinea	38.4
113	Nicaragua	37.9
114	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	37.8
115	Burundi	37.7
116	Fiji	37.7
117	Guinea-Bissau	37.7
118	Venezuela	37.6
119	Liberia	37.4

Rank	Country	Score
121	West Bank and Gaza	37.3
122	Uganda	37.2
123	Rwanda	37.1
124	Mexico	37.0
125	Gambia	37.0
126	Bangladesh	37.0
127	Ethiopia	36.9
128	Cambodia	36.9
130	Mauritania	36.8
131	Namibia	36.7
132	Jamaica	36.6
133	Iran	36.6
134	Kiribati	36.5
135	Colombia	36.4
136	Benin	36.3
137	Nigeria	36.1
138	Brazil	35.9
139	Suriname	35.4
140	Laos	35.3
141	Samoa	35.2
143	Pakistan	34.9
144	Bahamas	34.7
145	St. Kitts and Nevis	34.7
146	Niger	34.7
147	Honduras	34.6
148	Madagascar	34.3
149	Iraq	34.3
150	Morocco	34.1
151	Lesotho	34.0
152	Mozambique	33.9
153	Cameroon	33.8
154	Gabon	33.8
156	Togo	33.6
157	Micronesia	33.3
158	Chad	33.3
159	Egypt	33.1
160	Papua New Guinea	33.1
161	Botswana	33.1
162	Syria	33.0
163	Republic of Congo	32.8
164	Belize	32.5
165	South Africa	32.4
166	Zambia	32.4
167	Guatemala	31.8
168	Burkina Faso	31.6
169	Comoros	31.1
170	Mali	31.1
171	Dominica	30.7
172	Democratic Republic of Congo	30.3
173	Sudan	30.0
174	Zimbabwe	30.0
175	Yemen	29.7
176	Djibouti	29.4
177	Angola	28.6
178	Equatorial Guinea	27.8
179	Haiti	26.7
180	Afghanistan	26.4

Social Capital Index

Social Capital Index

Social Capital World Map

Quick links

GSCI 2023

Sustainable & Competitive

State of the World – Social Capital

Global Social Capital Scores

Global Social Capital Trends

The Social Capital Index 2023 – Key Observations

2023 Social Capital Ranking