Affärslivet Talent & Human Capital Index 2026

Executive summary

The Affärslivet Talent & Human Capital Index 2026 ranks 49 economies on human capital by combining 4 equal-weighted dimensions, each normalised to a 0–100 scale. Human capital is the input every advanced economy competes on. This index tracks who is building the deepest talent base, across four World Bank measures. Sweden leads with 88.4/100; Sweden ranks 1st of 49 with 88.4/100. This is Affärslivet's own composite — fully transparent: every input is an official World Bank series with a source URL, and the method below is reproducible. The complete ranking with per-dimension scores is downloadable as CSV and JSON under a CC BY 4.0 licence.

Key findings

The index — top economies

The chart shows the 15 highest-scoring economies (Sweden highlighted); scores are the equal-weighted mean of 4 dimensions, each normalised 0–100 across the 49 ranked economies.

Sweden, dimension by dimension

Sweden ranks 1st of 49 overall (88.4/100). Its normalised score and world rank on each dimension are below — a map of where the Swedish human capital is genuinely strong and where it lags.

Sweden's profile is relatively balanced (a 39-point spread between its best and weakest dimension), scoring highest on education investment and lowest on health investment.

Who leads each dimension

No single economy tops every dimension — the overall winner (Sweden) leads by being strong across the board (a 39-point spread across its dimensions). This table shows the world leader on each individual dimension of the index.

Regional patterns

Median composite score by world region reveals where human capital concentrates. Europe leads on the median measure. Regional medians tell a story the country ranking alone can hide — whether strength is broad across a region or driven by one or two standouts.

What the index reveals

What the data says: Sweden leads with 88.4/100, 1.6× the median score of 55.8. The spread across the 49 ranked economies shows human capital is concentrated among a clear top tier, and — because the index equal-weights several dimensions — the leaders got there by being strong across the board, not on one metric alone.

For Sweden, the index indicates a genuine world leader on human capital: 1st of 49 (88.4/100), strongest on education investment and with most room to improve on health investment.

Top 5 vs bottom 5

The five highest- and five lowest-scoring economies on the Affärslivet Talent & Human Capital Index 2026 side by side — the clearest snapshot of the range across the 49 ranked economies.

How the index is built

The Affärslivet Talent & Human Capital Index ranks economies on how much they invest in people — public spending on education and health, the life expectancy that reflects those outcomes, and the density of researchers a country cultivates.

Each dimension is min-max normalised across all economies with data (lowest = 0, highest = 100); dimensions where lower is better (e.g. unemployment, debt, inequality) are inverted so a higher score always means better. The composite is the equal-weighted mean of the dimensions an economy reports; a minimum of 3 is required to be ranked. Equal weighting is a deliberate, transparent choice.

Full ranking — 49 economies

Complete ranking with composite score and each economy's normalised (0–100) score per dimension.

Limitations & what the index can't tell you

This is a composite, and composites make choices. Scores are relative to the 49 ranked economies, so they shift as the field changes, not only as a country improves. Each dimension uses the most recent World Bank year available, and reporting lags differ across countries. Equal weighting is deliberate but not neutral — a differently weighted index would reorder the middle of the table (the top and bottom are robust).

The index measures the dimensions of human capital that official data captures; it is not a verdict on quality of life, policy or outcomes beyond them. We publish the full method and data precisely so others can reweight, extend or challenge it — reproducibility is the point.

Scoreboard (machine-readable data)

Every headline indicator with its value, period, source and confidence. Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.

↓ CSV · ↓ JSON

Methodology & verification

The Affärslivet Talent & Human Capital Index 2026 equal-weights 4 World Bank dimensions, each min-max normalised to 0–100 (dimensions where lower is better are inverted). The composite is the mean of the dimensions an economy reports; at least 3 are required. Scores are relative to the ranked set and shift as peer data updates. Every input is an official World Bank series (compiled from the IMF, WHO, UNESCO and national sources) with a source URL; nothing is estimated. This is Affärslivet's own composite — transparent and reproducible, not an official World Bank, IMF or UN index. Confidence: Medium-High.

Data dictionary

Frequently asked questions

Glossary

Composite index

A single score combining several indicators, here the equal-weighted mean of 4 normalised dimensions. ↗

Min-max normalisation

Rescaling so the lowest value becomes 0 and the highest 100, making different indicators comparable; 'lower is better' dimensions are inverted. ↗

Education investment

Dimension of the index — World Bank series SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS (higher is better). ↗

Health investment

Dimension of the index — World Bank series SH.XPD.CHEX.GD.ZS (higher is better). ↗

Life expectancy

Dimension of the index — World Bank series SP.DYN.LE00.IN (higher is better). ↗

Researchers

Dimension of the index — World Bank series SP.POP.SCIE.RD.P6 (higher is better). ↗

Sources

• World Bank Open Data — all dimensions
• World Bank — Education investment
• World Bank — Health investment
• World Bank — Life expectancy
• World Bank — Researchers
• Affärslivet — Sweden Economic Indicators

Related reports & data

• Business Climate Index
• Economic Health Index
• Prosperity Index
• Richest Countries in the World
• Sweden Economic Indicators