Sri Lanka has climbed one place to 82nd rank on the global index of talent competitiveness that measures how countries grow, attract and retain talent.

The list is topped by Switzerland. Sri Lanka ranks above India (92), which is worst among the five BRICS countries. Last year, Sri Lanka came in at 83rd on the index.

While China was ranked at the 54th place, Russian Federation was placed at 56th, followed by South Africa at 67th and Brazil 81st. 

Sri Lanka is second in Central and Southern Asia region (8 countries). 

“Kazakhstan (53rd) is one of two upper-middle-income countries (the other is the Islamic Republic of Iran, 103rd) and it clearly dominates this group. Kazakhstan ranks above the median of performance in the GTCI sample (mainly supported by its relatively good Enable pillar, ranked 58th) but is an outlier: second place is taken by Sri Lanka (82nd) and third by Kyrgyzstan (87th), which are well below in terms of ranking.”

Launched for the first time in 2013, the Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) is an annual benchmarking report that measures the ability of countries to compete for talent. The report ranks 118 countries according to their ability to grow, attract and retain talent.

GTCI report provides a tool-kit for governments, businesses and non-profit organisations throughout the world.

Switzerland topped the overall index, followed by Singapore and the United Kingdom in second and third places respectively, in the list released today by INSEAD Produced in partnership with The Adecco Group and the Human Capital Leadership Institute of Singapore (HCLI).

Others in the top 10 include the United States (4th), Sweden (5th), Australia (6th), Luxembourg (7th), Denmark (8th), Finland (9th) and Norway (10th).

According to the report, BRICS countries are not getting stronger and both China and India have slipped from their year-ago rankings.

It further said that overall, a challenge for countries such as China and India is to attract talent from abroad, particularly in the context of large emigration rates of high-skilled people.

-Agencies