In the 2023 edition of the globalization index, Switzerland had the highest index score at 90.75. Belgium followed behind, with the Netherlands in third. Overall, globalization declined in 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak, but increased somewhat in 2021, even though it was still below pre-pandemic levels.

About the index

The KOF Index of Globalization aims to measure the rate of globalization in countries around the world. Data used to construct the 2023 edition of the index was from 2021. The index is based on three dimensions, or core sets of indicators: economic, social, and political. Via these three dimensions, the overall index of globalization tries to assess current economic flows, economic restrictions, data on information flows, data on personal contact, and data on cultural proximity within surveyed countries.

Defining globalization

Globalization is defined for this index as the process of creating networks of connections among actors at multi-continental distances, mediated through a variety of flows including people, information and ideas, capital and goods. It is a process that erodes national boundaries, integrates national economies, cultures, technologies and governance and produces complex relations of mutual interdependence.

Luxembourg was the leading country in the Globalization Index 2023 in the field of social globalization. The 2023 edition of the index uses data from the year 2021. Hong Kong SAR and Monaco followed behind the two leading countries. Switzerland lead the combined Globalization Index 2023.

Singapore was the leading country in the Globalization Index 2023 in the field of economic globalization. The 2023 edition of the index uses data from the year 2021. Belgium and the Netherlands followed in the places behind.

The era of globalization

The beginning of the current era of increasing economic globalization was signaled by the creation of the Bretton Woods institutions toward the end of the Second World War. These institutions acted as the foundation for the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and World Trade Organization. The institutions, and their modern equivalents, sought to reduce the barriers on international trade in goods, services and capital markets. In the decades following their inception international trade has skyrocketed to become a cornerstone of the international economy, as demonstrated by trends in global export volume of trade in goods from 1950. Economic globalization
Countries that are perceived as more economically globalized are those with low tariffs on imports, more free-trade agreements, regulation that accommodates foreign investment and lower non-tariff barriers to trade such as safety regulations on imports. However, economic globalization fails to capture the entire picture in regards to globalization processes and their impact on countries. As such, analysts have placed attention on the social and political effects on globalization as seen in the index for social globalization and index for political organization. To see the combined results of the multiple globalization indexes see the Top 100 countries in the Globalization Index.

Germany ranked first in terms of political globalization with an index score of 97.8, according to the Globalization Index 2023. The 2023 edition of the index uses data from the year 2021. France and Italy, who were second in the ranking, had an index value of 97.7.

The average for 2022 based on 188 countries was 61.41 points. The highest value was in the Netherlands: 89.72 points and the lowest value was in Somalia: 30.26 points. The indicator is available from 1970 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Die Statistik zeigt die Top-25-Länder nach dem Globalisierungsindex 2023. Im Ranking der ETH Zürich erreicht die ******* im Globalisierungsindex 2023 (bezogen auf das Jahr 2021) einen Wert von **** Indexpunkten, danach folgen ******* und ****************. The KOF Index of Globalization misst drei Haupt-Dimensionen der Globalisierung: ökonomische Globalisierung, soziale Globalisierung und politische Globalisierung. Diese Dimensionen werden in weitere Unterdimensionen untergliedert. Je höher der Indexwert, desto globalisierter ist ein Land.