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: November 9, 2012
Tags: Company Level
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: September 14, 2012
Tags: Country Level
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 allows you to access various country data regarding financial, economic, and political risk. The site also contains additional reports and data available for purchase.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: November 9, 2012
Tags: Country Level
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: September 14, 2012
Tags: Country Level
A.T. Kearney: Global Cities Index
The Global Cities Index provides a comprehensive ranking of the leading global cities from the world, it is designed to track the way cities maneuver as their populations grow and the world continues to shrink. The assessment is based on country's levels of economic, globalization rate, human capital, information and technology, cultural experience, and political engagement. The complete rankings, information about methodology, and expert analysis is all provided on the site. PDF download is available.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: November 9, 2012
Tags: Country Level
A.T. Kearney: The Global Retail Development Index
The A.T. Kearney Global Retail Development Index ranks emerging countries based on a set of twenty-five variables including 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 on this page. The Global Retail Development Index is available for download as a PDF.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: October 26, 2012
Tags: Country Level
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 skills and availability, and business environment. The report and ranking files are available in PDF format.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: September 14, 2012
Tags: Country Level
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: September 14, 2012
Tags: Industry Specific
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: November 9, 2012
Tags: Country Level
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: April 22, 2013
Tags: Country Level
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: June 6, 2012
Tags: Research, Company Level
Cato Institute Economic Freedom of the World Annual Report
The Cato Institute, a public policy research organization, produces annual reports that seek to measure the commitment and consistency of countries to the concepts of economic freedom. The report ranks countries based on freedom of exchange, market coordination, rule of law, security of property rights, and other dimensions related to economic freedom. Current and past versions of the report are available in PDF format.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: September 26, 2012
Tags: Global, Publications
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 9, 2012
Tags: Country Level
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: September 14, 2012
Tags: Country Level
Country Brand Index
Produced by FutureBrand, the Country Brand Index collects data from thousands of diverse global travelers to develop rankings for countries in a variety of areas. Some sample areas include standard of living, easiest to do business in, conferences and political freedom. Users can access the executive summary but the full report must be purchased.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: April 10, 2013
Tags: Country Level, Hospitality and Travel, Travel/Living Abroad, Travel, Industries
DHL Global Connectedness Index
The Global Connectedness Index ranks 125 countries based on their integration into the world economy. It provides a detailed analysis of the flows that connect the world. The study indicates that globalization is still not as advanced as most people believe and that continued economic integration could spur significant global gross domestic product gains as global connectedness has enormous room to expand, even among the most connected countries. The complete Global Connectedness Index is available for download.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: May 2, 2013
Tags: Country Level
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: November 9, 2012
Tags: Country Level
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: October 2, 2012
Tags: Country Level
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 technology infrastructure, business environment, social and cultural environment, legal environment, government policy and vision, and consumer and business adoption. The latest rankings, past rankings as well as individual country commentaries are accessible on the site.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: October 2, 2012
Tags: Country Level
Engineering News-Record: Top 225 International Contractors
Engineering News presents this annual study that ranks contractor companies based on the construction revenue generated outside of each company's home country. The Top 225 International Contractors index ranks companies based on their international revenues. Free previews are available, but a paid subscription is needed to access most content.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: February 20, 2013
Tags: Industries, Construction, Industry Specific
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: October 2, 2012
Tags: Industry Specific
Ernst & Young: Globalization Index
The Globalization Index uses 20 indicators to capture the key aspects of international business integration. The index shows the extent to which the world's largest countries are connected to the global economy. The index measures relative globalization, rather than absolute. This means that a country's trade, investment, labor, technology, and cultural integration with other nations is measured relative to its GDP rather than by its absolute value.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: September 14, 2012
Tags: Country Level
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: October 2, 2012
Tags: Company Level
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 to access this information.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: September 14, 2012
Tags: Country Level
Forbes: Best Countries for Business
Forbes provides an annual ranking of the best countries for business, examining a total of 134 countries on multiple factors - including gross domestic product (GDP) growth, GDP per capita, and trade balance as a percentage of GDP. To develop the rankings, Forbes looked at 11 aspects for each country such as property rights, innovation, taxes, technology, corruption, trade freedom, red tape regulations, investor protection, and stock market performance.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: September 25, 2012
Tags: Country Level
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: October 2, 2012
Tags: Company Level
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: November 9, 2012
Tags: Country Level
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: November 9, 2012
Tags: Company Level
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: October 2, 2012
Tags: Company Level
Freedom House: Freedom on the Net
Published annually by Freedom House, Freedom on The Net ranks the internet and digital media freedom of 47 countries based on three factors: obstacles to access, limits on content, and violation of user rights. The complete publication is available online.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: September 25, 2012
Tags: Country Level
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 the featured cities “global."
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: November 9, 2012
Tags: Country Level
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: September 14, 2012
Tags: Global, Country Level, Publications
Global-production.com
The site provides comparative information on the potential and performance of 25 emerging economies as locations for global production and sourcing. Studies are provided for specific industries as well as countries. The results of these studies are conducted by Nova Research, a Swiss-based business economics consultancy.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: November 9, 2012
Tags: Country Level
Happy Planet: Human Well-Being & Environmental Impact Index
The Happy Planet index ranks over 150 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: October 23, 2012
Tags: Country Level
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 9, 2012
Tags: Country Level
How Canada Performs: A Report Card on Canada
How Canada Performs is a multi-year research program designed by the Conference Board of Canada to help leaders identify relative strengths and weaknesses in Canada’s socio-economic performance. Under the economy section, the website not only provides reports comparing Canada with 16 other countries of similar economic status, but also insights into which factors will negatively or positively affect a country's economic performance in the future.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: October 26, 2012
Tags: Country Specific
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 9, 2012
Tags: Company Level
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: May 8, 2013
Tags: Industries, Company Level, Industrial Manufacturing
Interbrand: Best Global Brands
The Best 100 Global Brands are ranked annually by Interbrand. The Charts section allows users to compare brands within specific industries over a 12 year period and even displays brand value broken down by region or country. Previous reports dating back to 2001 can be found by clicking on the drop-down tab "Best Global Brands" at the top of the page and then selecting "Previous Years".
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: October 2, 2012
Tags: Company Level
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. Past year rankings are available online in a 16 year time series. A limited selection of tables and graphics for the individual ranking criteria is provided. Ranking is available in PDF, and the complete report is available for purchase.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: September 14, 2012
Tags: Country Level
Investment Consulting Associates: LocationSelector
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 a 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: November 9, 2012
Tags: Country Level
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: October 2, 2012
Tags: Country Level
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.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: October 2, 2012
Tags: Country Level
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 9, 2012
Tags: Country Level
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: November 9, 2012
Tags: Country Level
OECD Country Risk Ratings
The Country Risk Classification Method measures the country credit risk and the likelihood that a country will service its external debt. The index uses a scale of eight risk categories to determine a country's credit risk. The rankings are available in PDF format.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: September 14, 2012
Tags: Country Level
OECD Employment Protection Index
The OECD Employment Protection Index measures the procedures and costs involved in dismissing individuals or groups of workers and the procedures involved in hiring workers on fixed-term or temporary work agency contracts. Data is available for most countries and can be downloaded in excel format.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: February 22, 2013
Tags: Country Level, Employment Regulations
PwC: Ease of Paying Taxes
Paying Taxes is a unique study from PwC, the World Band, and IFC that measures the ease of paying taxes across 183 countries around the world. The study also measures the administrative burden of tax payments and contributions by recording the taxes medium-sized companies must pay in a given year. An interactive map is provided to view the rankings and key findings from the study can also be accessed on the rankings page.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: September 25, 2012
Tags: Country Level
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: October 2, 2012
Tags: Retail, Industries, Industry Specific
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: November 9, 2012
Tags: Country Level
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 are size and growth, customer references, organizational competencies, and management capabilities.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: October 23, 2012
Tags: Company Level
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 institution. Registration is required to view the data and rankings.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: November 9, 2012
Tags: Global, Finance
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: October 23, 2012
Tags: Country Level
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. An archive of reports from previous years dating to 1991 is available at http://unctad.org/en/Pages/DIAE/World%20Investment%20Report/WIR-Series.aspx.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: January 8, 2013
Tags: Company Level
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: October 26, 2012
Tags: Country Level
Vale Columbia School on Sustainable International Investment: Emerging Market Global Players
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: October 26, 2012
Tags: Country Specific, Country Level, Mexico, China, Israel, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Turkey, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, India
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 with rankings beginning in 1996. Data is available in Excel format only, and the World Bank Policy Research Working Paper on the report is also available.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: September 14, 2012
Tags: Country Level
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 31, 2012
Tags: Global, Country Level, Publications
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: September 14, 2012
Tags: Country Level
World Wide Web Foundation: The Web Index
The Web Index is designed and produced by the World Wide Web Foundation and measures the Internet's growth, utility, and impact on countries around the world. The complete rankings covers a total of 61 developed and developing countries. Many indicators are incorporated into this study that assess the political, economic, and social impact of the Web. The index also gives details about the Web connectivity and infrastructure of each country.
Last reviewed by globalEDGE on: September 17, 2012
Tags: Country Level