Sweden And US Rank Highest In Globalization Index

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

15 February 2006

In its recently published Globalization Index, the Swiss Institute for Business Cycle Research (KOF) revealed that the United States and Sweden topped the rankings in terms of globalization.

The KOF Index of Globalization is designed to measure economic, social and political dimensions of globalization, is available for 123 countries over the period 1970–2003, and is calculated on the basis of 23 variables.

The economic dimension of the KOF index measures long distance flows of goods, capital and services as well as information and perceptions that accompany market exchanges. In addition to actual flows of trade and foreign investment, it captures the degree to which a specific country controls capital and trade flows. Meanwhile, the social dimension measures the spread of ideas, information, images, and people, while the political dimension captures diffusion of government policies.

According to the findings contained in the Index, the USA, Sweden and Canada are on top of the globalization ranking. On the bottom of the 2006 ranking are Togo, Chad and the Central African Republic.

The United Kingdom has particularly improved its position, according to KOF. Starting from rank 9 in 1999 the UK continously increased its globalization score, occupying the 4th position in the current ranking.

Regarding economic globalization – and in line with the results for previous years – Luxembourg by far shows the highest score. Hong Kong (for which a score separate from China is calculated) ranks second, followed by Ireland, the Netherlands and Singapore. Least globalized in economic terms are Benin, Niger and the Bahamas.

The social globalization ranking is headed by the USA, Canada, Australia and Sweden, whereas the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo, and Guinea-Bissau are at the bottom of the ranking.

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