Ranked: World’s Most Forward-Thinking Countries, 2021 - CEOWORLD magazine (2024)

Which nations are seen as doing the best job in foreseeing the future and enabling people to adapt quickly to change? Today when change occurs at the speed of a tweet, the global tech race has allowed nations to compete with each other for futuristic technology. Like every year, CEOWORLD magazine has ranked countries that are quick in anticipating change and implementing it at the ground level.

The United Kingdom is the most forward-thinking country in the world, according to the CEOWORLD magazine Index 2021, while Japan and Germany placed second and third, respectively. The 2021 rankings placed Singapore in fourth ahead of South Korea; while the United States ranked sixth, and Australia seventh.

Overall, among the world’s top 10 most forward-thinking countries for 2021, the eighth, ninth, and tenth positions are held by Switzerland, Canada, and Taiwan.

Detailed findings & methodology: In order to determine the rankings, researchers at the CEOWORLD magazine compiled, analyzed, and compared 152 countries across 10 key categories: availability of government online services, mobile accessibility, bureaucratic, cashless payments, availability of high-speed internet at home, entrepreneurial, innovative, technological expertise, open access to the internet, and digitally forward-thinking lifestyles.

To evaluate those dimensions, researchers looked at 36 indicators that fell into one of the 10 categories. An index has been created scoring the individual indicators on a scale of 1-100. Each individual indicator was given equal weighting within each of the 5 categories with some indicators being comprised of 2-3 sub-indicators that were also weighted equally.

The study is based on a detailed global perceptions based survey conducted between Jan 2nd, 2021 and Jan 30th, 2021 by the CEOWORLD magazine in Partnership with the Global Business Policy Institute (GBPI) of 120,000 business decision-makers.
CEOWORLD magazine put together a panel of experts to go over data points culled from sources like the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), World Economic Forum, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), U.S. News & World Report, the United Nation’s Economic and Social Council, and the World Bank. Based on a consensus from these sources, the final choice of countries was judged editorially, as was their position on the list. All data is for the most recent period available. Some countries and territories were not included in the official statistics for various reasons, primarily due to the lack of necessary data. Also, countries and territories with low initial scores were excluded from the list as the comparison would create misleading results.

The margin of sampling error for the full sample of 120,000 respondents is plus or minus 1.2 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, one should bear in mind that as in all survey research, there are possible sources of error—such as coverage, nonresponse, and measurement error——that could affect the results.

United Kingdom: The United Kingdom is the most forward-thinking country in the world on our list. The highly-developed nation has everything from scientific technology to economic and political prowess. Even the nation’s role on the global stage is widely revered due to the groundbreaking work in Cosmology. With the entrepreneurial and technical expertise to daunt over, the United Kingdom is also home to some of the top universities in the world. And, not to forget the country is the birthplace of the World Wide Web making it a technologically advanced nation in all aspects.

Japan: There is no doubt that Japan is a technologically advanced nation. A visit to the isles of the country is like embarking on a futuristic journey with the help of a time machine. From robots, shoe-shaped bullet trains, vending machines at every corner, and sci-fi toilets, Japan has embraced future technology like no other nation in the world. Even the fashion sense practiced in the country is different from the rest of the world. With all these points combined together, we can only see why Japan has a firm hold over the world in the technology sector.

Germany: In this day and age of technological superiority, Germany is ahead of the curve in many ways. The nation has many projects lined up in its kitty which poses as the entrance to future technology. From ultra-futuristic trains that have noise-canceling cars, tablet stands, and game consoles to an underground station with light eyes, Germany is taking an inch closer to the future through its innovative approach in every other thing.

Singapore: Singapore is also known as the nation with the ability to foster futuristic technology for growth and development. The city has an impressive layout that gives a quick glance into its future prospects. Singapore is a league ahead of other countries as it has already made plans to counter the growth of the population. The urban planners are discouraging vehicle purchases and analyzing local cab use to avoid traffic congestion in the coming years. With treehouses and skyscrapers dominating the urban skyline, an indoor waterfall at Changi Airport, Urban farms along with the state of the art architecture, Singapore is in every way a country with a futuristic approach.

South Korea: South Korea is another nation in the world that has successfully made a name for itself in technology. The city of Songo is one of the many innovative approaches of the nation. With looming buildings and a sparkling skyline, Songdo aims to take the smart city concept to another level. With robots in every home, information system in each household, and city to household connections for emergency management, the city has successfully helped South Korea to secure a place for itself in terms of technology.

Australia: Australia is one of the world’s most forward-looking countries. With futuristic hotel interiors, diverse modes of transportation, Australia has truly arrived at the forefront of the technological scenario. The modern architecture, glistening skyline, and artificial intelligence across the nation will make you believe that you have traveled through time and arrived here!