South Korea and Hong Kong Rise in IMD Digital Ranking

The International Institute for Management Development ranked 70 economies in its 2026 World Digital and AI Ranking, evaluating their capacity to develop, adopt, deploy, and govern digital technologies and AI. The United States took first place overall, followed by Singapore in second, Canada in fifth, China in seventh, and Japan in 19th.

South Korea rose eight places to rank 10th globally. The country placed first worldwide for research and development spending as a share of gross domestic product and third in both efficiency and technology infrastructure. The Ministry of Science and ICT attributed this improvement to national resilience and policy work, noting that South Korea ranks fourth among economies with populations exceeding 20 million.

Hong Kong ranked 11th globally and fourth in Asia. The region achieved top global rankings in education, training, practices, and technological framework, while placing second worldwide for workforce development. In response, the Government of Hong Kong announced plans to enhance its institutional framework for innovation and technology to build an industrial ecosystem spanning research, commercialization, and mass production.