International rankings of Hong Kong

Overview of several international rankings of Hong Kong

The following are international rankings of Hong Kong by categories.

Note: For rankings with negative connotations, the orders are inverted such that the best country/regions are always ranked "1st".

Overall

**Overall Rankings**
Name	Year	Place	Out of #	Reference	Remarks
United Nations - Human Development Index	2019	&4	189	Archived 2020-04-29 at the Wayback Machine	Norway 1, Singapore 9, S.Korea 22, Japan 19, M.China 85
EIU – Global Liveability Ranking	2019	&38	&140		Vienna 1, Osaka 4, Tokyo 7, Singapore 40
Mercer – Quality of Living Survey	2019	&71	&231		Vienna 1, Singapore 25, Tokyo 49, Seoul 77, Shanghai 103
Monocle – Quality of Life Survey	2016	&18	&25+		Tokyo 1, Singapore 20
The Economist - Where-to-be-born Index	2013	&10	80		Singapore 6, S.Korea 19, Japan 25, M.China 49
Legatum Prosperity Index	2019	&15	&167		Denmark 1, Singapore 16, Japan 19, China 57
Arcadis - Sustainable Cities Index	2019	&9	&100		Singapore 4, Seoul 13, Tokyo 33, Shanghai 76
IESE - Cities in Motion Index	2019	&11	&174		Tokyo 6, Singapore 7, Seoul 12, Shanghai 59

Economy

**Economic Rankings**
Name	Year	Place	Out of #	Reference	Remarks
International Labour Organization – Average monthly earnings (PPP)	2012	&30	&72	Archived 2018-09-09 at the Wayback Machine	Singapore 14, S.Korea 10, Japan 17, M.China 57
International Finance Corporation/World Bank – Ease of Doing Business Index	2020	&3	&189		Singapore 2, S.Korea 5, Taiwan 15, China 31
CIA The World Factbook – Exports	2017	&10	225
CIA The World Factbook – Imports	2013	&8	222
World Bank - GDP per Capita (current US$)	2012	&27	214
World Bank - GNI per Capita, PPP (current Intl$)	2012	&12	184
IMF – Official Reserve Assets	2014 Jan	&6	&75
WEF – Global Competitiveness Index	2015-2016	&7	140		Singapore 2, S.Korea 26, Japan 6, M.China 28
WEF – Global Enabling Trade Index	2014	&2	138
IMD – World Competitiveness Yearbook	2020	5	63		Singapore 1, S.Korea 23, Japan 34, M.China 20
Wall Street Journal / The Heritage Foundation – Index of Economic Freedom	2016	&1	&178		Singapore 2, S.Korea 27, Japan 22, M.China 144
MIT - Economic Complexity Index	2014	&40	&144		Singapore 8, S.Korea 6, Japan 1, M.China 37
PwC/World Bank - Overall Paying Taxes	2014	&4	&189
Grant Thornton - Global Dynamism Index	2013	&16	&60
FedEx Opportunity Index - Access Index® Rank	2008	&1	&109
McKinsey - Connectedness Index	2012	&2	131	Archived 2016-01-23 at the Wayback Machine
EIU - Digital economy rankings	2010	&7	70

Business and Industry

**Business and Industry Rankings**
Name	Year	Place	Out of #	Remarks
EIU – Business Environment Rankings	2014-2018	&3	&82	Singapore 1, S.Korea 26, Japan 27, M.China 50
Forbes - Best Countries for Business	2015	11	145	Singapore 8, Japan 23, S.Korea 33, M.China 94
World Tourism Organization - World Tourism rankings	2014 May	&14	193
WEF – Financial Development Index	2012	&1	62
WEF - Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report	2013	&15	140
EIU – IT industry competitiveness index	2011	&19	&66	Singapore 3, S.Korea 19, Japan 16, M.China 38
World Bank - Logistics Performance Index	2014	&15	&160

Education

**Education Rankings**
Name	Year	Place	Reference	Remark
OECD Programme for International Student Assessment - Maths
2012	&3	65	Singapore 2, S.Korea 5, Japan 7, Shanghai 1
2009	&3	65
2006	&3	57
OECD Programme for International Student Assessment - Reading
2012	&2	65	Singapore 3, S.Korea 5, Japan 4, Shanghai 1
2009	&4	65
2006	&3	57
OECD Programme for International Student Assessment - Science
2012	&2	65	Singapore 3, S.Korea 7, Japan 4, Shanghai 1
2009	&3	65
2006	&3	57
OECD Programme for International Student Assessment - Problem Solving
2012	&5	65	Singapore 1, S.Korea 2, Japan 3, Shanghai 6

Environment

**Environmental Rankings**
Name	Year	Place	Out of #	Reference	Remarks
South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission – Environmental Vulnerability Index	2004	&128	234	Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
New Economics Foundation – Happy Planet Index	2016	&123	140	Child care leave application	Singapore n/a, S Korea 80, Japan 58, China 72

Health & Safety

**Health & Safety Rankings**
Name	Year	Place	Out of #	Remarks
WHO - Infant mortality (1=lowest)	2005-2010	&1	193
WHO - Life expectancy (1=highest)	2005-2010	&1	193
UNODC - Intentional homicide rate	2012 or latest data available	&6	219
The Economist - Safe Cities Index	2015	&11	50	Singapore 2, Seoul 24, Tokyo 1, Shanghai 30

Infrastructure

**Infrastructure Rankings**
Name	Year	Place	Out of #	Reference	Remark
Mercer - Cities with the best infrastructure	2014	&6	50
Airports Council International, Airport Service Quality Awards - Asia Pacific	2013	&below 5	75
Skytrax, World Airport Award	2014	&4	410+
Skytrax, World Airlines Awards	2014	&1 (Cathay Pacific)	100+
The World Factbook – Number of Heliports	2013	&24	115
The World Factbook - Expressway density	2012 (for HK)	&194	222
United Nations - ICT Development Index	2015	&11	167		S.Korea 1, Japan 11, Singapore 19, M.China 82
Akamai Technologies – Internet connection speed	2013	&4	188+
Google - Smartphone penetration	2012	&8	47	Archived 2018-12-26 at the Wayback Machine
WEF - Networked Readiness Index	2014	&8	148

Innovation

**Innovation Rankings**
Name	Year	Place	Out of #	Reference	Remark
Global Open Data Index - Overview	2016	&23	94	Archived 2018-09-26 at the Wayback Machine	Singapore 16, Japan 13
World Intellectual Property Indicators - Patents by origin (residents & abroad)	2014	&38	122		Singapore 26, M.China 1, Japan 3, S.Korea 4
World Intellectual Property Indicators - Patents by origin (residents only)	2014	&59	97		Singapore 30, M.China 1, Japan 3, S.Korea 4
World Intellectual Property Indicators - Trademarks by origin (residents & abroad)	2014	&22	122		Singapore 34, M.China 1, Japan 5, S.Korea 10
World Intellectual Property Indicators - Trademarks by origin (residents only)	2014	&23	95		Singapore 49, M.China 1, Japan 7, S.Korea 9
World Intellectual Property Indicators - Designs by origin (residents & abroad)	2014	&25	125		Singapore 33, M.China 1, Japan 7, S.Korea 3
World Intellectual Property Indicators - Designs by origin (residents only)	2014	&31	93		Singapore 44, M.China 1, Japan 6, S.Korea 3
World Intellectual Property Indicators - Resident application design counts per population	2014	&15	20+		Singapore 19, M.China 20+, Japan 16, S.Korea 1
Bloomberg Innovation Index	2015	&34	50
The Boston Consulting Group - International Innovation Index	2009	&6	110	Archived 2021-06-16 at the Wayback Machine
World Intellectual Property Organization - Global Innovation Index	2024	18	133
World Bank - Research and development spending as % of GDP	Most recent value	&44	123		S.Korea 2, Japan 3, M.China 16, Singapore 17
HackerRank - Which Country Has the Best Developers	2016	&17	50		M.China 1, Japan 6, Singapore 13, S.Korea 22

Governance

**Governance Rankings**
Name	Year	Place	Out of #	Reference	Remark
Transparency International – Bribe Payers Index	2011	&15	28
World Justice Project – Rule of Law Index	2014	&16	102		Singapore 9, M.China 71, Japan 13, S.Korea 11
The Economist Intelligence Unit – Democracy Index	2015	&63	167
Reporters without Borders – World Press Freedom Index	2014	&&70	180		Singapore 153, M.China 176, Japan 61, S.Korea 60
Property Rights Alliance – International Property Rights Index	2013	&&14	130
Transparency International – Corruption Perception Index	2013	&&15	177	Archived 2013-12-03 at archive.today
Wasada IAC – Joint E-Government Ranking	2014	&&26	61		Singapore 2, S.Korea 3, Japan 5, M.China 39

Society

See also: Demographics of Hong Kong and Hong Kongers

**Social Rankings**
Name	Year	Place	Out of #	Reference	Remark
The World Factbook - Distribution of Family Income (Gini Index)	2011 for HK	&129 (1=lowest)	141	Archived 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine	Singapore 110, S.Korea 30, Japan 66, M.China 115
Gallup – Potential Net Migration Index (Asia Pacific)	2010-2012	&10 (1 meaning highest potential immigration)	&28		Singapore 3, S.Korea 18, Japan 15, M.China 12
Walk Free Foundation - Global Slavery Index	2013	&22	&162
United Nations - World Happiness Report	2022	81	&157		Singapore 27, Japan 54, S.Korea 59, M.China 72
Charities Aid Foundation - World Giving Index	2012	&19	&145

Rankings by Years

The following are international rankings of Hong Kong by years.

Date	Contest	Host organisation	Ranking	Note
2002 and 2006	National IQ Rankings	IQ and the Wealth of Nations, the University of Ulster	1/185 countries	Controversial
2001–05	World's Best Airports	Skytrax	1/155 countries
2006	6th Annual Global e-Government Study (Brown University)	Global e-Government	20/198 countries
	Annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2006	Reporters Without Borders	59/168 countries
	Corruption Perceptions Index	Transparency International	15/163 countries
	World Competitiveness Yearbook 2006	IMD International	2/61 economies	Economies include those of countries and regions
	World City's Skyline/Skyscrapers	Emporis Data Committee (EDC)	1/100 major cities	Cities ranked by the visual impact of their skylines
	Global Competitiveness Report - Growth Competitiveness Index Ranking	World Economic Forum	11/125 countries
	World's Best Airports	Skytrax	2/165 countries
	Business Competitiveness Index - BCI	World Economic Forum	10/121 countries
	Human Development Index - HDI	United Nations	22/177 countries
	Access Index (p.19)]	FedEx: The Power of Access - 2006 Access Index	1/75 countries
2007	Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index	World Economic Forum	6/124 countries
	Index of Economic Freedom	The Heritage Foundation/The Wall Street Journal: 2008 Archived 2008-02-13 at the Wayback Machine	1/157 countries	Ranked 1st for 14 years in a row
	Leading Centers of Commerce	"MasterCard study". Forbes. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved October 1, 2013.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)	5/63 countries	rated 63 cities according to their legal and political framework, economic stability, ease of doing business, financial flow, business center status, and knowledge creation and information flow
	World's most expensive cost-of-living	Mercer Human Resource Consulting	5/143 cities
	World's Best Airports	Skytrax	1/155 countries
	World Competitiveness Yearbook 2007	IMD International	3/55 economies	The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2007 analyses and ranks the ability of nations to create and maintain an environment that sustains the competitiveness of enterprises
	E-readiness	Economist Intelligence Unit	4/69 countries	e-Readiness is the ability to use Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to develop one's economy and to foster one's welfare
	World's best place for doing business	World Bank	4/178 countries	Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business, from 1–178, with first place being the best. A high ranking on the ease of doing business index means the regulatory environment is conducive to the operation of business. This index averages the country's percentile rankings on 10 topics, made up of a variety of indicators, giving equal weight to each topic
	Asia's best corporate governance survey	Asian Corporate Governance Association	1/11 countries
	Global Financial Centre Index	City of London	3/10 cities	The GFCI is a ranking of the competitiveness of financial centres based on a number of existing indices in combination with a regular survey of senior industry figures from around the world. Hong Kong ranked third behind New York and London.
	IT industry competitiveness index	Economist Intelligence Unit	21/64 countries	Index measures a supply of skills, an innovation-friendly culture, world-class technology infrastructure, a legal regime and well-balanced government support, as well as a competition-friendly business environment. Those countries possessing most of these “competitiveness enablers” are also home to high-performance IT industries: all but four of the top 22 countries in the EIU are also among the world's top countries in terms of IT labour productivity
	Asian Cities of the Future 07/08	Financial Time	1/38 cities
2008	Capital Access Index 2007	Milken Institute	1/122 countries
	Location Ranking Survey	ECA International	15/254 locations
	World Competitiveness Yearbook	IMD	3/55 economies
	Mortalities Due to Air Pollution	WHO	8th

References

Mercer(2014), Quality-of-Living Reports
World Intellectual Property Organization (2024). "Global Innovation Index 2024: Unlocking the Promise of Social Entrepreneurship". www.wipo.int. p. 18. doi:10.34667/tind.50062. ISBN 978-92-805-3681-2. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
National IQs Based on the Results of Intelligence Tests Archived December 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
^ "World's Best Airports". Worldairportawards.com. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
"6th Annual Global e-Government Study (Brown University)". Brown.edu. 2006-08-01. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
"Annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2006". Rsf.org. Archived from the original on 2009-03-06. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
"Corruption Perceptions Index". Transparency.org. Archived from the original on 2011-04-16. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
"World Competitiveness Yearbook 2006" (PDF). Imd.ch. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-03-07. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
"Emporis Data Committee (EDC)". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-04. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
"Global Competitiveness Report - Growth Competitiveness Index Ranking" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-11-01. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
"Business Competitiveness Index - BCI" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-07-24. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
Human Development Index - HDI Archived October 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
"Access Index (p.19)" (PDF). Retrieved 2014-01-28.
"Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index". Weforum.org. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
"Mercer Human Resource Consulting". Mercerhr.com. Archived from the original on 2014-04-10. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
"World Competitiveness Yearbook 2007" (PDF). Imd.ch. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
"Economist Intelligence Unit" (PDF). Retrieved 2014-01-28.
"World's best place doing business". Doingbusiness.org. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
"Asia's best corporate governance survey". Forbes. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
"Global Financial Centre Index" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-02-23. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
IT industry competitiveness Index
"Asian Cities of the Future 07/08". Fdimagazine.com. Archived from the original on 2010-08-09. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
"Location Ranking Survey". Emailwire.com. 2008-03-04. Archived from the original on 2014-02-02. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
World Competitiveness Yearbook
"Press release: Hong Kong ranked 8th highest in the world for mortalities due to air pollution | Clean Air Network | Our Air, Our Health". Hongkongcan.org. 2012-02-13. Retrieved 2014-01-28.

v t e Economy of Hong Kong
History	Seamen's strike of 1922 Black Saturday (1983) Four Asian Tigers Ting Hai effect 1997 Asian financial crisis Stock disasters in Hong Kong Brand Hong Kong Positive non-interventionism Taipan Poverty Campaign: Speak Up Pearl River Delta
Currency	Hong Kong dollar Hong Kong Mint Hong Kong Note Printing Banknotes of the Hong Kong dollar Coins of the Hong Kong dollar
Industry and business	List of companies of Hong Kong Agriculture and aquaculture in Hong Kong Hong Kong Export Credit Insurance Corporation
Government agencies	Hong Kong Trade Development Council Hong Kong Monetary Authority Commerce and Economic Development Bureau Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau Trade and Industry Department Office of the Government Economist Inland Revenue Department Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department State enterprises in Hong Kong
Employment and tax	Employment in Hong Kong Estate Duty Ordinance Goepfert case Inland Revenue Ordinance Partnership taxation Profits tax Rates (tax) Salaries tax Minimum Wage Ordinance Stamp Duty Ordinance Stamp duty Goods and Service Tax
Infrastructure and Transport	Port of Hong Kong Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge Hong Kong International Airport Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link MTR
Rankings	International rankings of Hong Kong
Finance and banking	Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Hong Kong Futures Exchange Securities and Futures Commission Linked exchange rate Red chip H share Electronic Payment Services Growth Enterprise Market Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange Hang Seng Index Hang Seng China Enterprises Index Hang Seng China-Affiliated Corporations Index CSI Cross-Straits 500 Index
Agreements	CEPA Ship Registration in Hong Kong Outward Processing Arrangement
Energy	List of power stations in Hong Kong
Other	Water supply in Hong Kong Individual Visit Scheme Economic freedom Four big families of Hong Kong
See also: Economy of Macau Economy of Asia

v t e Hong Kong
Outline Index of articles
History	Prehistoric Imperial China Bao'an County and Xin'an County British colony 1800s–1930s WWI Battle of Hong Kong Japanese occupation 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s Handover of Hong Kong 2000s 2010s 2020s
Geography	Administrative divisions Air pollution Areas Bays Beaches Buildings and structures Channels Cities and towns Country parks and conservation Ecology Land reclamation Harbours Islands and peninsulas Lakes Marine parks Mountains and peaks Public parks and gardens Reservoirs Rivers Villages
Politics	National anthem Basic Law Chief Executive Districts Elections Emblem Flag Foreign relations Government Independence Judiciary Legal system Legislative Council LGBT rights Military One country, two systems Political parties Protests Sino-British Joint Declaration Special administrative regions of China
Public services	Education Fire services Food and Health Bureau Healthcare Police
Economy	Banks Companies Dollar (currency) Employment Hawkers Port Stock Exchange Communications The Hongs Tourism
Transport	Airlines Airport Buses Cycling Ferries List of roads Rail Taxis
Society	Crime Prostitution Sex trafficking
Culture	Architecture Cinema Comics Cheung Chau Bun Festival Cuisine Gambling Graffiti Heritage conservation Hong Kong orchid Honours system Hong Kong nationalism Languages LGBT Lion Rock Spirit Literature McDull Media Museums Music Ngai jong People Demographics Women Youth Public holidays Religion RTHK Shopping Sport Television Visual art Anglosphere CJKV Sinosphere

v t e International rankings of Asia
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States with limited recognition	Abkhazia Northern Cyprus Palestine South Ossetia Taiwan
Dependencies and other territories	British Indian Ocean Territory Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Hong Kong Macau
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