Singapore takes crown as world’s most globalised country

It bested 180 markets.

Singapore has placed first again in DHL’s Global Connectedness Index, which ranks 181 markets based on their international flows.

Back in 2017, Singapore also ranked first in the index.

In the 2023 edition of the report, Singapore ranked second.

In the index, countries are scored based on two dimensions: depth or their international flows relative to total activity and breadth or the distribution of international flows across countries.

According to the report, Singapore has the largest international flows relative to domestic activity, topping the depth dimension with a score of 99.0/100.

On the breadth dimension, Singapore scored 63.5, ranking 25th overall.

“Its 25th place ranking on breadth is also impressive, considering the country’s small size. Smaller countries tend to have high depth but low breadth. As a city-state with major port operations and a thriving financial sector, Singapore is uniquely positioned to excel in globalisation,” DHL said.

“Well before the pursuit of ‘global city’ status became fashionable, Singapore began enacting policies to leverage global connectedness as a cornerstone of its economic development strategy,” DHL added.

Since 2001, Singapore’s connectedness level has risen by 9.0 percentage points, making it the country with the sixth largest connectedness increase.

The United States has the biggest share in Singapore’s international trade flows at 16%, followed by China (12%), Malaysia (8%), India (5%), Japan (5%),  Hong Kong SAR (5%), Indonesia (5%), Taiwan (4%), Korea (4%), and United Kingdom (3%).