Countries by Statistical performance indicators (SPI): Overall score (scale 0-100)

Norway leads 188 countries in the 2024 Statistical Performance Indicators (SPI) overall score with a value of 94.14, while South Sudan sits at the bottom with a score of 27.12. That gap of roughly 67 points reflects the wide disparity in national statistical systems across the world. The metric covers data use, services, products, sources, and infrastructure.

Business category

Ranking 2024

Countries by Statistical performance indicators (SPI): Overall score (scale 0-100)
Rank	Country	Value
1	Norway	94.14
2	Sweden	92.66
3	Canada	92.36
4	Denmark	92.05
5	Spain	91.82
6	New Zealand	91.74
7	South Korea	91.57
8	Poland	91.11
9	Slovenia	91.09
10	Romania	91.05
11	Japan	90.99
12	Costa Rica	90.98
13	Mexico	90.95
14	Italy	90.93
15	Portugal	90.71
16	Finland	90.37
17	Israel	90.29
18	United States	90.06
19	Germany	90.06
20	Chile	89.38
21	Lithuania	89.36
22	Austria	89.35
23	Australia	88.97
24	Estonia	88.79
25	Switzerland	88.71
26	United Kingdom	88.38
27	France	88.37
28	Singapore	88.32
29	Ireland	88.32
30	Latvia	88.08
31	Hungary	87.87
32	Georgia	87.72
33	Belgium	87.26
34	North Macedonia	87.17
35	Czechia	87.01
36	Greece	86.58
37	Luxembourg	85.82
38	Moldova	85.67
39	Netherlands	85.13
40	Cyprus	85.06
41	Croatia	85.05
42	Thailand	85.04
43	Malaysia	84.99
44	Kazakhstan	84.89
45	Malta	83.85
46	Philippines	83.83
47	Mongolia	83.73
48	Albania	83.65
49	Bulgaria	83.55
50	Colombia	83.44
51	Saudi Arabia	83.29
52	Slovakia	83.25
53	Indonesia	82.34
54	Brazil	82.31
55	Armenia	82.18
56	Peru	81.98
57	Russia	81.5
58	Uzbekistan	81.49
59	Iceland	81.47
60	Senegal	81.41
61	South Africa	81.29
62	Serbia	80.49
63	Mauritius	80.44
64	Argentina	80.39
65	Uruguay	80.15
66	Ecuador	79.86
67	Guatemala	79.36
68	Türkiye	79.35
69	United Arab Emirates	79.15
70	Kyrgyzstan	79.15
71	Jordan	78.81
72	Egypt	78.14
73	Panama	77.73
74	Belarus	77.2
75	Burkina Faso	76.37
76	Ukraine	76
77	Tunisia	75.46
78	Dominican Republic	75.22
79	Sri Lanka	74.58
80	Palestine	74.4
81	Paraguay	74.21
82	Montenegro	73.89
83	El Salvador	73.74
84	India	73.72
85	Jamaica	73.47
86	Kenya	73.36
87	Morocco	73.07
88	Rwanda	72.6
89	Bangladesh	71.64
90	Benin	71.03
91	Niger	70.47
92	Bolivia	70.23
93	Côte d'Ivoire	70.2
94	Azerbaijan	69.49
95	Nigeria	69.12
96	Uganda	68.7
97	Bosnia and Herzegovina	68.56
98	Tanzania	68.22
99	Qatar	68.1
100	Pakistan	68.06
101	Belize	67.68
102	Fiji	67.68
103	Vietnam	67.24
104	Gambia	67.01
105	Zimbabwe	66.8
106	Mozambique	66.74
107	Togo	66.55
108	Mali	66.51
109	Cameroon	66.05
110	Ghana	65.74
111	Honduras	65.68
112	Seychelles	64.53
113	Myanmar	64.52
114	Maldives	64.37
115	Malawi	64.34
116	Botswana	64.21
117	Saint Lucia	64.17
118	Zambia	64.17
119	Tajikistan	63.87
120	Iran	63.52
121	Kuwait	63.38
122	Antigua and Barbuda	63.21
123	Tonga	63.2
124	Cambodia	63.01
125	Samoa	62.83
126	Ethiopia	61.75
127	Barbados	61.74
128	Brunei	61.44
129	Eswatini	60.97
130	Palau	60.95
131	Laos	60.84
132	Timor-Leste	60.52
133	Nepal	60.37
134	Sierra Leone	59.94
135	Cabo Verde	59.87
136	Trinidad and Tobago	59.38
137	Oman	59.22
138	Liberia	59.12
139	Suriname	58.63
140	Mauritania	58.45
141	Lesotho	58.24
142	Angola	58.15
143	Bhutan	57.97
144	China	57.93
145	Lebanon	57.81
146	Madagascar	57.5
147	Nicaragua	55.8
148	Namibia	55.66
149	Algeria	55.24
150	Afghanistan	54.39
151	Guyana	54.06
152	Iraq	53.98
153	Chad	53.57
154	Vanuatu	53.45
155	Sao Tome and Principe	52.97
156	Bahrain	51.96
157	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	51.96
158	Somalia	51.71
159	Bahamas	51.26
160	Solomon Islands	51.03
161	Grenada	50.81
162	Comoros	50.5
163	Kiribati	50.04
164	Guinea	49.91
165	Andorra	49.87
166	Nauru	47.94
167	Guinea-Bissau	47.52
168	Central African Republic	46.84
169	DR Congo	46.28
170	Gabon	45.48
171	Burundi	45.24
172	Papua New Guinea	43.63
173	Marshall Islands	43.54
174	Tuvalu	43.02
175	Saint Kitts and Nevis	42.66
176	Sudan	42.1
177	Dominica	40.71
178	Venezuela	39.46
179	Republic of Congo	38.87
180	Haiti	38.74
181	Djibouti	38.11
182	Yemen	37.44
183	Micronesia	37.1
184	Libya	34.75
185	Syria	32.42
186	Equatorial Guinea	32.15
187	Turkmenistan	29.65
188	South Sudan	27.12

Analysis

The SPI overall score measures country performance across five pillars: data use, data services, data products, data sources, and data infrastructure. As stated in the source definition, 'The new Statistical Performance Indicators (SPI) will replace the Statistical Capacity Index (SCI), which the World Bank has regularly published since 2004. Although the goals are the same, to offer a better tool to measure th[e capacity of national statistical systems].' Scores are reported on a scale of 0 to 100, where higher values indicate stronger statistical performance. The dataset covers 188 countries, all with data from the reference year 2024, representing 100% recency. All 188 datapoints are classified as official-quality. One extreme outlier was identified at the 3-sigma threshold. The indicator code is IQ.SPI.OVRL, sourced from the World Bank World Development Indicators.

The top of the ranking is dominated by European and high-income countries. Norway ranks 1st at 94.14, followed by Sweden at 92.66 (rank 2) and Canada at 92.36 (rank 3). Denmark (rank 4, 92.05) and Spain (rank 5, 91.82) round out the top five. Notably, several upper-middle-income and emerging economies also score well: Korea (rank 7, 91.57), Poland (rank 8, 91.11), Romania (rank 10, 91.05), and Costa Rica (rank 12, 90.98) all exceed 90 points, placing them ahead of long-established statistical powerhouses such as the United States (rank 18, 90.06) and Germany (rank 19, 90.06).

The middle of the ranking shows considerable variation. Senegal ranks 60th at 81.41, the highest-ranked sub-Saharan African country, while South Africa follows at rank 61 with 81.29. China ranks 144th at 57.93, placing it below countries such as Liberia (rank 138, 59.12) and Lesotho (rank 141, 58.24). Among the lowest-ranked countries with substantial populations, South Sudan sits last at 27.12 (rank 188), and Turkmenistan ranks 187th at 29.65. Venezuela ranks 178th at 39.46, and Libya ranks 184th at 34.75. The range across all 188 countries spans from 27.12 to 94.14, a spread of 247.1%.

The SPI score is a composite index, meaning it aggregates performance across five distinct pillars rather than measuring any single administrative outcome directly. Countries with strong legal or institutional frameworks on paper may score differently than those with active data production and publication. The metric does not capture informal data practices or subnational variation within countries. Because scores are composites, two countries with identical overall scores may have very different pillar-level strengths and weaknesses. The viability check flagged one extreme outlier at the 3-sigma threshold, which may warrant caution when interpreting rankings at the very top or bottom of the distribution. Year-over-year volatility is low at 5.1%, suggesting the ranking is broadly stable, though individual country scores can shift with changes in data infrastructure or reporting practices.

Methodology

The metric is the Statistical Performance Indicators (SPI) overall score, indicator code IQ.SPI.OVRL, sourced from the World Bank World Development Indicators with a reference year of 2024. Scores are expressed as absolute values on a scale of 0 to 100, where higher scores indicate stronger performance. Per the source definition: 'The SPI overall score is a composite score measuring country performance across five pillars: data use, data services, data products, data sources, and data infrastructure. The new Statistical Performance Indicators (SPI) will replace the Statistical Capacity Index (SCI), which the World Bank has regularly published since 2004. Although the goals are the same, to offer a better tool to measure th[e capacity of national statistical systems].' The dataset covers 188 countries, all with data from 2024, meeting the 80-country coverage threshold and the 7-year recency requirement. All 188 datapoints (100%) are classified as official quality, exceeding the 70% threshold. One extreme outlier was flagged at the 3-sigma level. Average year-over-year change is 5.1%, well below the 50% volatility threshold. The score range runs from 27.12 to 94.14, a 247.1% spread. No microstates under 1 million population are present in the dataset.

Sources

World Bank