Rankings
Fortune: Global 500
The annual feature of the Fortune magazine (published every July) ranks the world's largest companies according to revenues. The listings are provided in rank order as well as by industry. There is also a search function. For each company, there is basic contact information (address, phone, website), the CEO's name, and figures for revenues, profits, assets, stockholder's equity, and number of employees.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: December 18, 2009
MSU-CIBER: Market Potential Index
An indexing study conducted annually by MSU-CIBER to help companies rank Emerging Markets on eight dimensions. The dimensions are then combined to create an overall market potential index. The latest rankings are provided on the site as well as access to past analysis.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: October 11, 2011
A.M. Best Country Risk Ratings
A list classifying various countries into the level of risk inherent in the country's governmental, economic, and social stability factors. The methodology uses country risk analysis to determine how the factors outside an insurer's control affect its ability to meet its obligations to its policyholders. The site requires a free membership registration in order to access the various country data. The site also contains additional reports and data available for purchase.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: October 12, 2009
A.T. Kearney/ Foreign Policy: Globalization Index
The Globalization Index is the rankings of 72 key advanced and emerging markets worldwide based on levels of economic, social, technological and political integration with the rest of the world. The complete rankings, information about methodology, and expert analysis is all provided on the site.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: October 12, 2009
A.T. Kearney: FDI Confidence Index
An annual survey which tracks the impact of likely political, economic and regulatory changes on the foreign direct investment intentions and preferences of CEOs, CFOs and other top executives of Global 1000 companies. The report includes detailed commentary on the markets and the impact a variety of global trade issues have on their FDI attractiveness, as well as a ranking of the top 25 countries.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: August 8, 2011
A.T. Kearney: The Global Retail Development Index
The A.T. Kearney Global Retail Development Index ranks emerging countries based on four key variables: country risk, market attractiveness, market saturation, and time pressure. In addition to the current year's index, the reports for previous years can be accessed from the links on the left side of the page.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: November 29, 2011
A.T. Kearney: The Global Services Location Index
The annual Global Services Location Index (formerly called the Offshore Location Attractiveness Index) is a tool to help companies understand and compare the factors that make countries attractive as potential location for offshore services. It measures the viability of countries as an offshore destination based on their financial attractiveness, people and skills availability, and business environment. The report and ranking files are available in PDF format.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: August 9, 2011
Advertising Age: Advertising and Marketing Rankings Data Center
A wide variety of annually conducted ranking studies by Ad Age magazine. Most rankings are accessible for free, however some of the documents require a free registration. More rankings are also available on the Ad Age Global site, which requires a fee-based subscription.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: March 21, 2011
Anholt-GMI Nation Brands Index
Anholt-GMI provides a quarterly ranking of the world's nation brands, based on a polling of consumers worldwide. It measures the perceptions of the cultural, political, commercial, and human assets. This is complemented with perceptions of investment potential and tourist appeal of countries being ranked. Contact information for GfK Custom Research North America is available for assistance with research needs.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: October 12, 2009
AON Insurance and Risk Management Company
AON Insurance and Risk Management Company provide a number of risk management, consulting, and insurance services. The Political Risk Map allows the user to select and view risks by country, region, risk type, or risk level and provides overall levels and types of risk in relation to global changes. Users may also choose to view the Terrorism Threat Map, which offers similar features to assess risk related to terrorist activity.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: August 8, 2011
Business Week: The Global 1000 Scoreboard
This is an annual study by BusinessWeek of the top global companies ranked by market value. A search by country is also available to display the top companies specific to that country. It not only provides the market value of the companies, it also provides data to make relevant comparisons among them. Last updated in 2004.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: March 31, 2010
Center for Global Development: Commitment to Development Index
An annual ranking that grades 22 developed nations on how their aid, trade, migration, investment, technology, security, and environmental policies influence the development of poor nations. The site explains the methodology and the ranking of the 22 nations in the 7 categories (in addition to an overall ranking).
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: November 20, 2009
Chemical and Engineering News: Global Top 50 Chemical Producers
An annual study conducted by C&EN magazine, it ranks the top 50 companies worldwide in terms of total chemical sales. The study includes an analysis of the current year's events, the changes in rankings from the past year, and a detailed table that provides figures for sales, operating profits, capital spending, and R&D spending for all 50 companies. Requires a free membership.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: November 29, 2011
Coface: Country Risk and Economic Research
Coface's Country Risk and Economic Research provides risk ratings for individual countries as well as industry sectors. Ratings for countries are based on criteria including economic, financial, and political data. Ratings also allow the user to evaluate the overall business climate in a given country.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: January 9, 2012
Doing Business: Economy Rankings
The Doing Business Economy Rankings measures the ease of conducting business in a country based on ten factors that reflect how conducive the regulatory environment is to a business operation. All 175 countries can be ranked based on any specific factor, and the raw data is also available for download in Excel format.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: October 12, 2009
Ducroire|Delcredere Country Risks
Ducroire|Delcredere provides both "political risk" and "commercial risk" ratings for 245 countries around the world. The countries are analyzed according to the type of commercial transaction and the nature of the risk.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: August 8, 2011
EIU: E-readiness Rankings 2009
A joint effort by the Economist Intelligence Unit and IBM Institute for Business Value, the study ranks 70 countries in terms of their conduciveness to Internet-based opportunities. The rankings are based on 6 criteria: connectivity and IT infrastructure, business environment, e-commerce adoption, legal environment, social environment, and supporting e-services. The latest rankings, past rankings as well as individual country commentaries are accessible on the site.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: October 12, 2009
Engineering News-Record: Top 225 International Contractors
Annual study that ranks contractor companies based on the construction revenue generated outside of each company's home country. A separate ranking is available for the Top 225 Global Contractors and includes the companies' revenues in their home countries as well as their international revenues. Free previews available, but paid subscription needed to access most content.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: November 15, 2010
Entrepreneur Magazine: Top Global Franchises
An annual ranking of America's top 200 franchisers seeking international franchisees ranked by a combination of factors, including financial strength and stability, growth rate and size of the system, the number of years in business, length of time franchising, start-up costs, litigation, percentage of terminations, and whether the company provides financing. The site includes detailed information about each company featured in the ranking.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: August 8, 2011
Financial Times: FT Global 500
The FT Global 500 provides a listing of world's largest companies ranked by market capitalization. The list can be viewed by ranking, by country, and by sector. There are also separate listings for top 500 companies in each region of the world. Free registration is required to view the rankings.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: September 16, 2010
Fitch: Sovereign Ratings
The Fitch Ratings Sovereigns Group provides credit research and opinion on more than 100 countries, and assigns ratings to the foreign and local currency debt of sovereign governments that account for virtually all of sovereign international debt issuance. A subscription is required for access to research and credit reports, but the actual rankings can be downloaded through the "Sovereign Ratings History" link of the left menu.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: October 11, 2011
Forbes Best Countries for Business
An annual ranking of the Best Countries for Business examining 134 countries on multiple factors - including gross domestic product (GDP) growth, GDP per capita, trade balance, and public spending as a percentage of GDP.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: November 29, 2011
Forbes: Global 2000
This listing, produced annually by Forbes magazine, ranks the world's largest companies as measured by a composite ranking of sales, profits, assets, and market value. Users may filter the list by industry, country, or U.S. state.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: August 8, 2011
Forbes: Tax Misery Index
Published by Forbes Global, the annual tax guide presents a comprehensive glance at the corporate and personal tax rates in 60 of the world's major business spots. In addition the guide includes various tables to show what an employee nets as cash compensation after all applicable taxes.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: October 12, 2009
Fortune: Fortune 500
The Fortune magazine publishes an annual ranking of America's largest corporations (by revenues). The site has the full rankings, plus more detailed profile information about each country in the ranking, as well as industry level rankings. The list is also sortable by state, company name, and a number of other criteria.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: October 27, 2009
Fortune: World's Most Admired Companies
Using a large set of indicators, this annual study presents a ranking of major companies worldwide based on their performance conceived broadly. Some of the indicators include quality of management; quality of products and services; innovativeness; long-term investment value; financial soundness; ability to attract, develop, and retain talent; community responsibility; use of corporate assets; and global business acumen.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: August 8, 2011
Global Cities Index
Ranking of all of the world’s largest cities. Includes rankings, mayors of the moment, city vs. country life, best cities for business and travel, and what makes cities “global”. Requires a free membership.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: November 29, 2011
Global Information Technology Report
A report produced in cooperation with INSEAD, World Economic Forum, and the World Bank, the Global Information Technology Report ranks the world economies in terms of networked readiness and effects on economic growth and productivity. The rankings as well as a selection of chapters are available online.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: July 29, 2011
Global-production.com
The site provides comparative information on the potential and performance of 25 emerging economies as locations for global production and sourcing and is based on the results of a study conducted by Nova Research, a Swiss-based business economics consultancy.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: October 12, 2009
Happy Planet: Human Well-Being & Environmental Impact Index
The Happy Planet index ranks 143 countries based on the life satisfaction, life expectancy, and ecological footprint exhibited by each country. It is a simple measure designed to evaluate how efficiently countries use their resources in order to achieve fulfilling lives for their citizens. Data is accessible through an interactive global map or a list ranking in PDF and Excel format.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: November 20, 2009
Heritage Foundation: Index of Economic Freedom Rankings
A joint effort of the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal, the index scores the relative freedom of 179 world economies based on 10 factors: trade policy, fiscal burden of government, government intervention in the economy, monetary policy, capital flows and foreign investment, banking and finance, wages and prices, property rights, regulation, and black market. The complete publication is available online.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: November 20, 2009
Inc. 500 / 5000
Inc.com is aimed at helping business owners and CEOs start, run and grow their businesses more successfully. The Inc. 500/5000 is an exclusive ranking of United States' fastest-growing private companies. Users can view the full list or utilize a search function.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: November 29, 2011
INDEX: Gary Price's List of Lists
The List of Lists is a database of ranked listings of companies, people and resources freely available on the Internet, organized by subject headings.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: October 27, 2009
IndustryWeek: IW 1000 - World's Largest Manufacturing Companies
Industry Week magazine annually ranks the 1000 largest publicly held manufacturing companies based on revenue. Access to the data is through a flexible search engine which allows the data to be ranked and/or limited by several criteria, including industry, country, company name, revenue growth or sales revenue. An analysis of the ranking and rankings archives are also available.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: August 8, 2011
Interbrand: Best Global Brands
The world's top 100 global brands ranked by Interbrand and BusinessWeek are ranked against each other and within industry. Updated annually, the table allows easy comparison to the past year. The site also has feature articles that accompany the table. Additional analysis and interactive presentations are available through the site. Previous reports since 2001 are available at the bottom of the page.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: August 8, 2011
International Institute for Management Development: World Competitiveness Yearbook
Published by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), the annual report uses over 300 criteria in 4 main categories, economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure, to rank the competitiveness of 57 countries. The site includes the overall rankings for the past 5 years, and a limited selection of tables and graphics for the individual criteria. Ranking is available in PDF, and the complete report is available for purchase.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: November 20, 2009
Investment Consulting Associates: LocationSelector New
The Investment Consulting Associates (ICA) LocationSelector is a location benchmarking and competitiveness tool. The benchmarking analysis is a powerful tool to compare, score and rank locations based on wide series of business operating statistics. This tool is free to use with limited features, while a paid subscription allows full access to this powerful analysis and much more. Included in the subscription is a Weighted Analysis, which expands upon the benchmarking tool, allowing you to make certain factors more important than others, providing a more tailored and informed model. The Cost-Benefit Analysis allows a user to differentiate between cost and benefit factors to score and rank different locations, while the Operating Expenses tool benchmarks locations based on real business costs, giving results in high quality graphs. Output, which is exportable to Excel or Word with the subscription, can be viewed in a summarized ranking table and gives an average competitiveness score and ranking.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: February 1, 2012
KOF Index of Globalization
The KOF Index of Globalization, provided by the KOF Swiss Economic Institute, measures globalization on economic, social, and political dimensions by looking at economic flows, restrictions, information flows, personal contact, and cultural proximity. Detailed data is available for download, and users can utilize the mapping and graphing tools that add an informative visual element to the data. Data from 1970-present is available for over 200 countries.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: August 9, 2011
Logistics Performance Index (LPI)
Provided by the World Bank, the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) is an interactive benchmarking tool to help countries identify the challenges and opportunities they face in their performance on trade logistics and what they can do to improve their performance. Based on a worldwide survey of global freight forwarders and express carriers, the LPI offers profiles and insight into logistics friendliness across 150+ countries. The tool is available in three different modes: country scorecard, global LPI ranking, and cross-country comparison.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: August 9, 2011
Mercer: Worldwide Cost of Living Survey
The annual survey by Mercer HR Consulting measures the cost of living in 143 cities across 6 continents and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. It is the world’s most comprehensive cost of living survey and is used to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowances for their expatriate employees. The site provides the top 50 cities for free and the complete report is available for purchase.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: November 10, 2010
Mercer: Worldwide Quality of Living Survey
The survey by Mercer HR Consulting measures the overall quality of life for 215 cities worldwide. Quality of life criteria include social, economic, environmental, personal safety, health, education, transport and other public services. The data can be used to assist multinational companies in determining international hardship allowances for their expatriate workers. The site provides the top 50 cities for free and the complete report is available for purchase.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: October 27, 2009
OECD Country Risk Ratings
The Country Risk Classification Method measures the country credit risk, i.e. the likelihood that a country will service its external debt, on a scale of 0-7 (0 having the least risk).
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: October 12, 2009
Stores: Top 250 Global Retailers
Published by the National Retail Federation's Stores magazine, in conjunction with Deloitte, this list provides the top 250 global retailers ranked by annual sales. Country of origin, store format, and countries of operation are also provided for each retailer. The most recent edition of this extensive report, which is downloadable in a unique NXTBook format, also includes analysis and profiles of the world's best retail markets.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: December 8, 2011
Swiss Export Risk Guarantee Agency: Country Risk Categorizations
Available here are Country Risk Categorizations by the Swiss Export Risk Guarantee Agency. The first column on the table shows how ERG classifies countries based on the commercial risk present in the market, with 1 representing the smallest risk and 7 representing the highest risk.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: October 13, 2009
The Global Outsourcing 100
Each year, the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals ranks international companies as the world's best outsourcing service providers. The four criteria for rankings were size and growth, customer references, organizational competencies, and management capabilities.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: November 29, 2011
Thomson Reuters Financial League Tables
The "Thomson Reuters Financial League Tables" are the worldwide sources of quarterly and yearly data on the financial industry. They include Debt & Equity, Mergers & Acquisitions, Syndicated Loans, Project Finance and Municipals. A ranking is also provided in each section, based on the size and number of transactions executed by each financial institutions.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: October 12, 2011
Transparency International - Corruption Perceptions Index
The annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) ranks almost 200 countries by their perceived levels of corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys. Rankings dating from 1995 to present are available.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: August 9, 2011
UNCTAD: Foreign Direct Investment Indices
UNCTAD measures FDI performance and potential, ranking countries by how they do in attracting inward direct investment. There are three indices available: Inward Performance, Outward Performance and Inward Potential Results. Each index is updated every three years and is available in PDF format.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: October 27, 2009
UNCTAD: Largest Transnational Corporations
UNCTAD ranks the largest non-financial Transnational Corporations (TNCs) by their foreign assets and presents data on assets, sales and employment in three categories: the largest worldwide, the largest from developing countries and the largest from the economies in transition in Eastern Europe and the CIS. The same ranking, together with an analysis of the relevance of these TNCs in the world economy, is included in the various issues of the World Investment Report. Documents are available for download in various formats; the website is available in English, French, and Spanish.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: August 8, 2011
UNDP: International Human Development Indicators
This section of the site provides information on human development index trends worldwide. It allows one to build their own development index, explore development indicators, and also chart human development statistics for many nations. Site is available in English, French, and Spanish.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: March 2, 2011
Vale Columbia School on Sustainable International Investment: Emerging Market Global Players Updated
The Emerging Market Global Players (EMGP) Project, a collaborative effort led by the Columbia Program on Sustainable International Investment, ranks multinational enterprises (MNEs) in emerging markets according to the level of foreign assets held. Reports are available in PDF format, some in a country-specific language.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: February 13, 2012
World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators
World Bank Governance Indicators provides a ranking of 212 countries and territories on six dimensions of governance; voice and accountability, political stability and absence of violence, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law, and control of corruption. The report is an aggregate project from the years 1996 to 2008. Data is available in Excel format only, and the World Bank Policy Research Working Paper on the report is available in PDF format.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: November 20, 2009
World Economic Forum: Global Competitiveness Report
The report identifies and measures the underlying factors that contribute to high rates of economic growth in the medium term (a time horizon of about 5 years). These factors are quantified and then combined into an Index of Competitiveness. The website provides access only to an interactive map (link on right column) that provides the current state of world countries with various hotspots clickable for detailed explanation. The report is available in PDF format; rankings are available in PDF and excel.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: August 8, 2011
World Economic Forum: Global Enabling Trade Report
The Global Enabling Trade Report analyzes which countries around the world enable trade from country to destination by measuring market access, border administration, transport and communications infrastructure and the business environment in that country. The highest ranked countries have the best intuitions, policies, and services facilitating the free flow of goods across borders.The report and rankings are available in PDF format.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: November 29, 2011