Singapore slips to 7th spot in world talent ranking, trailing Hong Kong

The city-state slipped five places compared to last year, when it ranked second globally and first in Asia, according to the 2025 World Talent Ranking by Switzerland-based business school International Institute for Management Development (IMD).

The report assessed 31 data points and survey responses from 6,162 executives to measure talent competitiveness in 69 economies through three key factors: investment and development, appeal, and readiness.

Weaker results across all three areas contributed to Singapore’s decline, with the sharpest drop seen in its investment and development, which slid from 22nd to 30th place globally.

The city-state’s weak spots were its cost-of-living index and public spending on education, which placed 65th and 63rd, respectively.

Nonetheless, it still boasted great health infrastructure, high availability of foreign skilled workers and a competitive management pay of $298,777 annually — all of which ranked in the global top five.

Its education system continued to stand out with strong Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) test scores, student mobility inbound, number of science graduates and positive ratings from surveyed executives on primary and secondary schooling. A fairly administered justice system also supports Singapore’s talent competitiveness.

The city-state recorded slight improvements in its pupil-teacher ratio in secondary education and female labor force participation.

Arturo Bris, who heads the IMD World Competitiveness Center, said at a Monday press conference that the city-state ranks lower because it invests relatively little in education, as quoted by Channel News Asia.

Misiek Piskorski, dean of executive education at IMD, noted that the living costs in Singapore have prompted some companies to move to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, where political and economic conditions have improved and labor is cheaper while still skilled.

Even so, he expects Singapore to bounce back with a "very well thought-out plan" to boost its appeal to talent.

Hong Kong, meanwhile, climbed from ninth to fourth place in this year’s ranking, lifted by gains across all three dimensions of talent competitiveness. It made its biggest leap in appeal, rising from 28th to 20th.

The city’s strengths include a high share of science graduates — the highest on the ranking at 42.39% — along with strong female labor force participation, finance skills, management education and PISA results.

Hong Kong is becoming increasingly appealing to foreign skilled workers, with surveyed executives seeing higher talent availability.

However, it faces high levels of particle pollution, shrinking labor force and limited public spending on education. Its cost-of-living ranked even lower than Singapore’s, at 66th.

Besides Singapore, other Southeast Asian economies on the list included Malaysia (25th), Thailand (43rd), Indonesia (53rd) and the Philippines (64th), according to Malay Mail.