Denmark’s strengths lie in the quality and prioritization of its employee training, its excellent country credit rating, having agile companies and an open attitude towards globalization, efficient e-government, and reliance on secure internet servers (all indicators ranking first out of 67).

“Economies that balance strong governance, technological advancement, and adaptability to emerging trends are likely to lead in digital competitiveness in the years ahead,” said WCC Chief Economist Christos Cabolis in a press release. 

Exposing strengths and weaknesses

The ranking uses hard data and survey responses to measure digital competitiveness among 67 global economies, exposing strengths and weaknesses.

Singapore’s strengths include its city management, its number of high-tech patent grants, banking, and financial services, as well as public-private partnerships.

Switzerland progresses significantly in high-tech exports (ninth), e-participation (up 11 positions to 27th), and cyber security (11th).

“An economy’s ability to compete at the global level is compromised by the trade war between China (up five places to 14th) and the US. It is therefore likely that any new tariffs will encompass national security-related elements,” said José Caballero, Senior Economist at the WCC.

Geopolitical tensions have increasingly become a defining factor in shaping the digital competitiveness of countries, according to the report.

Another of the most significant challenges to digital competitiveness heading into 2025 is how much disparity exists in the development of digital infrastructure across countries.

Many economies, particularly in developing regions, lack access to high-speed broadband, reliable electricity, and modern telecommunications networks, which limit their participation in the global digital economy.

Obstacles to digital competitiveness

The ranking’s methodology divides digital competitiveness into three factors: Knowledge, Technology, and Future Readiness.

“Digital transformation goes hand in hand with financial development and inclusion,” said Professor Arturo Bris, Director of the WCC and added:

“In conjunction with global regulation, national policies can feed the fair use of individual information. The European Union, the UAE, and Singapore are at an advantage in this sense compared to the US and China, where the “rule of digital law” is still not fully upheld.  That said, Europe’s fragmented capital markets and financing systems are major obstacles to its digital competitiveness.”