In total, the Index covers 21 unique indicators, out of which eight have been fully disaggregated by generation, resulting in 44 distinct data points. To be included in the Index an indicator must have available data for at least half of the sample countries. Values for each of the indicators come from publicly available data originally compiled by international organizations such as the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In addition to hard data, the Index uses qualitative survey data from the World Economic Forum’s Executive Opinion Survey.

As many of the concepts measured by the Global Human Capital Index are expressed as percentage rates, final scores can be roughly interpreted as a percentage reflecting the degree of effective human capital utilization in a given country relative to the ideal outcome. For example, the Primary education attainment rate indicator has a logical maximum value of 100% and a higher score reflects a more desirable situation. Conversely, for a number of indicators, such as Underemployment rate, the logical ideal value corresponds to 0%. All rankings on the Global Human Capital Index have been directionally oriented towards a score of 100 as the best possible human capital outcome and performance.

This latest edition of the Global Human Capital Index revises the choice of indicators and construction to improve the Report’s usability for different stakeholders. Country scores and rankings are therefore not strictly comparable to previous editions of the Report. For a detailed explanation of the Index methodology—and of methodology updates relative to previous editions of the Global Human Capital Report—please refer to the Technical Notes available in Appendix B of this Report.