Data for 2018

Frontier Technology Readiness Index, 2018

2018, as UNCTAD’s 2025 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Frontier Technology Readiness Index, 2018 covers 171 countries on 6 measures. United States is highest, at 1.0000; South Sudan is lowest, at 0.0000. The middle country reads 0.4827. Against 2017, 169 values changed (159 up, 10 down), the same countries are covered.

Download CSV Cite this year

Share this page

Frontier Technology Readiness Index · Data for 2018

HighestUnited States

1.0000

LowestSouth Sudan

0.0000

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the better end. A higher value is the better result.

171countries
6measures per country
2018the year it describes
171distinct values4 decimals, as published
Sep 29, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY 3.0 IGOlicence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Frontier Technology Readiness Index, 2018, as published. UNCTAD ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 171 countries · select a heading to sort

Frontier Technology Readiness Index, 2018: every country, as published by UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
derived
1	United StatesUSANorthern America	1.0000	0.9102	0.7963	0.9339	0.7791	0.9826
2	SwedenSWENorthern Europe	0.9833	0.9731	0.9315	0.6606	0.8150	0.9516
3	United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe	0.9673	0.8791	0.8412	0.7556	0.8508	0.9531
4	NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe	0.9632	0.9519	0.8718	0.6801	0.8433	0.9304
5	SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia	0.9595	1.0000	0.8899	0.5867	0.8745	0.9409
6	SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe	0.9594	0.9321	0.7910	0.6766	0.9049	0.9758
7	GermanyDEUWestern Europe	0.9490	0.8994	0.7911	0.8145	0.8289	0.9021
8	BelgiumBELWestern Europe	0.9277	0.9479	0.9282	0.6015	0.7544	0.8890
9	South KoreaKOREastern Asia	0.9274	0.9003	0.7160	0.8164	0.8063	0.9580
10	FinlandFINNorthern Europe	0.9272	0.9030	0.9103	0.6227	0.7642	0.9198
11	DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe	0.9237	0.9834	0.8928	0.6175	0.6978	0.9706
12	FranceFRAWestern Europe	0.9160	0.8902	0.7458	0.7596	0.7957	0.9293
13	IrelandIRLNorthern Europe	0.9151	0.8699	0.8530	0.5666	1.0000	0.8402
14	CanadaCANNorthern America	0.8989	0.8917	0.7540	0.7121	0.7202	0.9458
15	NorwayNORNorthern Europe	0.8953	0.9721	0.9038	0.5641	0.5901	0.9589
16	AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand	0.8950	0.8285	1.0000	0.6888	0.5102	0.9571
17	Hong KongHKGEastern Asia	0.8916	0.9165	0.7391	0.5810	0.8520	1.0000
18	LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe	0.8879	0.9589	0.7922	0.4725	0.7793	0.9306
19	JapanJPNEastern Asia	0.8722	0.9227	0.5194	0.7709	0.7922	0.9741
20	IsraelISRWestern Asia	0.8672	0.7706	0.7667	0.6108	0.9059	0.8852
21	SpainESPSouthern Europe	0.8460	0.9108	0.7115	0.6818	0.6305	0.9249
22	ChinaCHNEastern Asia	0.8394	0.5859	0.4909	1.0000	0.8400	0.9686
23	ItalyITASouthern Europe	0.8323	0.8227	0.6845	0.7054	0.6995	0.9003
24	AustriaAUTWestern Europe	0.8313	0.8666	0.7206	0.6016	0.7162	0.9093
25	New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand	0.8260	0.9022	0.8714	0.5191	0.4835	0.9658
26	CzechiaCZEEastern Europe	0.8135	0.8849	0.7215	0.5383	0.7599	0.8622
27	PolandPOLEastern Europe	0.8080	0.8584	0.7026	0.6076	0.6899	0.8642
28	RussiaRUSEastern Europe	0.7864	0.8254	0.6996	0.6830	0.5183	0.8621
29	MaltaMLTSouthern Europe	0.7775	0.8277	0.7128	0.3334	0.8430	0.8949
30	SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe	0.7728	0.8720	0.7995	0.3967	0.6995	0.8462
31	HungaryHUNEastern Europe	0.7709	0.9132	0.6304	0.4860	0.7695	0.8186
32	EstoniaESTNorthern Europe	0.7667	0.9200	0.7526	0.3479	0.6819	0.8800
33	PortugalPRTSouthern Europe	0.7657	0.8599	0.6915	0.5234	0.5669	0.9225
34	LatviaLVANorthern Europe	0.7527	0.9111	0.7480	0.3584	0.6690	0.8302
35	SlovakiaSVKEastern Europe	0.7507	0.8914	0.5838	0.4595	0.7275	0.8797
36	MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia	0.7484	0.8243	0.4918	0.5403	0.7850	0.9429
37	CyprusCYPWestern Asia	0.7479	0.8119	0.6552	0.3703	0.7083	0.9546
38	IcelandISLNorthern Europe	0.7413	0.8960	0.9061	0.2855	0.4018	0.9164
39	LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe	0.7411	0.8974	0.7599	0.4023	0.5758	0.8395
40	GreeceGRCSouthern Europe	0.7316	0.7867	0.7434	0.4773	0.5218	0.9172
41	RomaniaROUEastern Europe	0.7171	0.9139	0.4955	0.5163	0.6713	0.7961
42	BrazilBRASouth America	0.7128	0.6248	0.5440	0.6685	0.6304	0.8774
43	ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia	0.7098	0.7889	0.4961	0.4914	0.6811	0.9600
44	BulgariaBGREastern Europe	0.7058	0.8297	0.5822	0.4370	0.6447	0.8604
45	United Arab EmiratesAREWestern Asia	0.7001	0.7387	0.5706	0.4361	0.7076	0.8962
46	TürkiyeTURWestern Asia	0.6906	0.6948	0.6542	0.5749	0.4702	0.8882
47	CroatiaHRVSouthern Europe	0.6878	0.8283	0.6549	0.3595	0.5894	0.8672
48	SerbiaSRBSouthern Europe	0.6750	0.8043	0.5587	0.3638	0.6561	0.8419
49	IndiaINDSouthern Asia	0.6701	0.4815	0.3476	0.7664	0.7399	0.8604
50	South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa	0.6647	0.7003	0.5013	0.4913	0.5313	0.9414
51	ChileCHLSouth America	0.6601	0.7220	0.6207	0.4671	0.3475	0.9412
52	MexicoMEXCentral America	0.6597	0.6714	0.4905	0.5502	0.6966	0.8222
53	UkraineUKREastern Europe	0.6562	0.7615	0.5878	0.4131	0.5415	0.8247
54	PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia	0.6472	0.6180	0.4540	0.4333	0.8387	0.8550
55	Saudi ArabiaSAUWestern Asia	0.6444	0.7228	0.6388	0.5470	0.2743	0.8634
56	BelarusBLREastern Europe	0.6414	0.7807	0.6656	0.2948	0.5314	0.8035
57	ColombiaCOLSouth America	0.6350	0.6332	0.6539	0.4821	0.4064	0.8589
58	BarbadosBRBCaribbean	0.6330	0.8311	0.6582	0.2265	0.4393	0.9045
59	ArgentinaARGSouth America	0.6214	0.6642	0.6610	0.4234	0.4641	0.7481
60	TunisiaTUNNorthern Africa	0.6131	0.6464	0.4933	0.4283	0.5897	0.8824
61	VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia	0.6090	0.7254	0.3402	0.4047	0.7005	0.9303
62	KuwaitKWTWestern Asia	0.6086	0.6923	0.5263	0.2084	0.5776	0.9164
63	BahrainBHRWestern Asia	0.5868	0.7550	0.5502	0.1821	0.4477	0.8965
64	PanamaPANCentral America	0.5849	0.7093	0.4589	0.2412	0.6429	0.9089
65	KazakhstanKAZCentral Asia	0.5833	0.7026	0.5897	0.3480	0.4531	0.7976
66	Costa RicaCRICentral America	0.5793	0.6780	0.4939	0.1908	0.6429	0.8775
67	North MacedoniaMKDSouthern Europe	0.5748	0.7762	0.5049	0.1838	0.5283	0.8602
68	LebanonLBNWestern Asia	0.5702	0.5981	0.4649	0.3168	0.5076	0.9314
69	IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia	0.5648	0.6120	0.3682	0.4471	0.5737	0.8358
70	MoroccoMARNorthern Africa	0.5640	0.6579	0.3171	0.4489	0.5207	0.9030
71	UruguayURYSouth America	0.5613	0.7419	0.5713	0.2499	0.4293	0.7939
72	JordanJORWestern Asia	0.5598	0.6611	0.4312	0.3415	0.5198	0.8989
73	MontenegroMNESouthern Europe	0.5594	0.7298	0.6506	0.1272	0.4086	0.8589
74	MauritiusMUSEastern Africa	0.5565	0.5849	0.5216	0.2588	0.5135	0.8985
75	MoldovaMDAEastern Europe	0.5492	0.7458	0.4382	0.2918	0.4822	0.7888
76	GeorgiaGEOWestern Asia	0.5473	0.6991	0.5766	0.1855	0.4271	0.8762
77	BruneiBRNSouth-eastern Asia	0.5451	0.7274	0.6506	0.1886	0.3276	0.8261
78	IranIRNSouthern Asia	0.5388	0.6074	0.4693	0.4926	0.2143	0.8775
79	OmanOMNWestern Asia	0.5364	0.7006	0.4602	0.2759	0.4036	0.8787
80	Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIHSouthern Europe	0.5324	0.7359	0.4610	0.2027	0.4369	0.8716
81	Trinidad and TobagoTTOCaribbean	0.5268	0.7887	0.5331	0.1326	0.3554	0.8334
82	QatarQATWestern Asia	0.5236	0.7263	0.4001	0.3234	0.2772	0.9048
83	AlbaniaALBSouthern Europe	0.4927	0.6938	0.4895	0.1692	0.3600	0.8134
84	EgyptEGYNorthern Africa	0.4888	0.4839	0.4709	0.3898	0.4015	0.7914
85	BahamasBHSCaribbean	0.4853	0.7972	0.5266	0.1539	0.0694	0.8591
86	PeruPERSouth America	0.4827	0.6087	0.4278	0.3052	0.2576	0.8474
87	Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia	0.4768	0.5536	0.4399	0.2280	0.3984	0.8533
88	FijiFJIMelanesia	0.4675	0.6240	0.4386	0.1458	0.3251	0.9183
89	ArmeniaARMWestern Asia	0.4655	0.6646	0.4075	0.1300	0.3649	0.8696
90	EcuadorECUSouth America	0.4616	0.5969	0.4331	0.2731	0.2665	0.8346
91	Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean	0.4609	0.6925	0.4500	0.0504	0.4802	0.8021
92	NamibiaNAMSouthern Africa	0.4547	0.5398	0.3557	0.1495	0.5430	0.8858
93	NepalNPLSouthern Asia	0.4530	0.4589	0.3464	0.1901	0.5100	0.8998
94	JamaicaJAMCaribbean	0.4507	0.7432	0.4185	0.1177	0.2130	0.8458
95	GhanaGHAWestern Africa	0.4364	0.5510	0.2695	0.2126	0.4939	0.7373
96	AzerbaijanAZEWestern Asia	0.4332	0.6439	0.4546	0.2123	0.1522	0.7766
97	KenyaKENEastern Africa	0.4308	0.5476	0.2736	0.2211	0.4518	0.8151
98	VenezuelaVENSouth America	0.4302	0.5237	0.4778	0.1981	0.2741	0.8111
99	Saint LuciaLCACaribbean	0.4275	0.6385	0.4696	0.0000	0.3135	0.8703
100	AlgeriaDZANorthern Africa	0.4248	0.4844	0.4894	0.2913	0.1459	0.7837
101	BotswanaBWASouthern Africa	0.4221	0.5335	0.3589	0.1821	0.3597	0.8253
102	El SalvadorSLVCentral America	0.4219	0.5504	0.2860	0.1100	0.5186	0.8726
103	MongoliaMNGEastern Asia	0.4189	0.5022	0.5103	0.1300	0.1773	0.8695
104	BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia	0.4156	0.4205	0.2322	0.3986	0.3235	0.8387
105	EswatiniSWZSouthern Africa	0.4140	0.4472	0.4452	0.0893	0.4922	0.7771
106	Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesVCTCaribbean	0.4125	0.5857	0.5832	0.0504	0.0612	0.8486
107	ParaguayPRYSouth America	0.4095	0.5680	0.4228	0.1272	0.2472	0.8489
108	UzbekistanUZBCentral Asia	0.4067	0.4840	0.3962	0.1863	0.3796	0.7849
109	BelizeBLZCentral America	0.4060	0.6095	0.3950	0.0318	0.3119	0.8502
110	MaldivesMDVSouthern Asia	0.4042	0.5976	0.5293	0.0504	0.1490	0.8146
111	BoliviaBOLSouth America	0.4010	0.5114	0.4498	0.1272	0.1646	0.8811
112	LaosLAOSouth-eastern Asia	0.3985	0.5639	0.2814	0.1056	0.5523	0.7773
113	CambodiaKHMSouth-eastern Asia	0.3934	0.5422	0.2327	0.1397	0.3677	0.9250
114	GuyanaGUYSouth America	0.3855	0.5716	0.3886	0.0000	0.2974	0.8301
115	GuatemalaGTMCentral America	0.3850	0.5536	0.2369	0.0636	0.4659	0.8261
116	SamoaWSMPolynesia	0.3842	0.4462	0.4051	0.0830	0.4221	0.7959
117	LibyaLBYNorthern Africa	0.3767	0.3223	0.5213	0.1056	0.2773	0.7311
118	Cabo VerdeCPVWestern Africa	0.3746	0.6199	0.3457	0.0318	0.1889	0.8664
119	BhutanBTNSouthern Asia	0.3745	0.6689	0.3656	0.0636	0.0416	0.8685
120	MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia	0.3735	0.5476	0.2190	0.1590	0.3911	0.7986
121	KyrgyzstanKGZCentral Asia	0.3732	0.5488	0.3672	0.0738	0.3078	0.7878
122	SurinameSURSouth America	0.3720	0.5775	0.4171	0.0000	0.2485	0.7913
123	NigeriaNGAWestern Africa	0.3663	0.4278	0.3783	0.2743	0.1990	0.7097
124	NicaraguaNICCentral America	0.3632	0.5182	0.3297	0.0636	0.2720	0.8383
125	HondurasHNDCentral America	0.3577	0.5173	0.2133	0.1242	0.2763	0.8815
126	LesothoLSOSouthern Africa	0.3570	0.6428	0.2746	0.0318	0.3196	0.7736
127	CameroonCMRMiddle Africa	0.3566	0.4013	0.3173	0.1871	0.3454	0.7437
128	VanuatuVUTMelanesia	0.3534	0.5086	0.2991	0.0318	0.3061	0.8794
129	DjiboutiDJIEastern Africa	0.3525	0.4816	0.2892	0.0504	0.4641	0.7804
130	GabonGABMiddle Africa	0.3506	0.5077	0.3430	0.0954	0.3394	0.7328
131	IraqIRQWestern Asia	0.3471	0.4170	0.3913	0.3543	0.0000	0.6929
132	TogoTGOWestern Africa	0.3390	0.2868	0.3485	0.1272	0.3571	0.8042
133	LiberiaLBRWestern Africa	0.3355	0.3460	0.2399	0.0318	0.4879	0.7575
134	SenegalSENWestern Africa	0.3331	0.4395	0.1350	0.1871	0.3693	0.8100
135	PakistanPAKSouthern Asia	0.3205	0.2885	0.0952	0.3381	0.4108	0.7555
136	Côte d’IvoireCIVWestern Africa	0.3131	0.4710	0.1905	0.1495	0.2508	0.7695
137	BeninBENWestern Africa	0.3026	0.3187	0.2448	0.1512	0.3384	0.7562
138	MadagascarMDGEastern Africa	0.3002	0.5034	0.1562	0.1242	0.2677	0.7320
139	RwandaRWAEastern Africa	0.2994	0.4015	0.2254	0.1458	0.2605	0.7794
140	Solomon IslandsSLBMelanesia	0.2896	0.4913	0.2731	0.0000	0.1431	0.8136
141	ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa	0.2841	0.4560	0.2204	0.1766	0.2214	0.6563
142	São Tomé and PríncipeSTPMiddle Africa	0.2813	0.4294	0.3434	0.0000	0.1363	0.7933
143	Papua New GuineaPNGMelanesia	0.2759	0.2743	0.2359	0.1008	0.3282	0.7669
144	TanzaniaTZAEastern Africa	0.2722	0.3497	0.0704	0.1804	0.4569	0.7300
145	HaitiHTICaribbean	0.2719	0.4835	0.2400	0.0318	0.2123	0.7181
146	ZambiaZMBEastern Africa	0.2714	0.3227	0.2484	0.1458	0.1982	0.7456
147	AngolaAGOMiddle Africa	0.2637	0.4124	0.2907	0.0893	0.0757	0.7394
148	MauritaniaMRTWestern Africa	0.2620	0.3649	0.1503	0.0954	0.2485	0.7822
149	EthiopiaETHEastern Africa	0.2611	0.2781	0.1336	0.2361	0.2775	0.7615
150	UgandaUGAEastern Africa	0.2598	0.1891	0.2253	0.1795	0.3335	0.7368
151	Timor-LesteTLSSouth-eastern Asia	0.2567	0.2851	0.3309	0.0504	0.2258	0.7516
152	MaliMLIWestern Africa	0.2541	0.3111	0.0392	0.0954	0.4046	0.7963
153	Republic of the CongoCOGMiddle Africa	0.2472	0.1427	0.2923	0.1374	0.2780	0.7322
154	GuineaGINWestern Africa	0.2421	0.2747	0.1703	0.0504	0.3324	0.7040
155	MozambiqueMOZEastern Africa	0.2391	0.2602	0.1727	0.1438	0.2113	0.7826
156	TajikistanTJKCentral Asia	0.2387	0.3153	0.3136	0.0000	0.2040	0.7242
157	MalawiMWIEastern Africa	0.2370	0.1627	0.2121	0.1326	0.3116	0.6711
158	NigerNERWestern Africa	0.2368	0.1687	0.1086	0.1056	0.5051	0.7093
159	ComorosCOMEastern Africa	0.2358	0.2558	0.3245	0.0000	0.1517	0.7505
160	Guinea-BissauGNBWestern Africa	0.2339	0.3142	0.1874	0.0000	0.2446	0.7382
161	GambiaGMBWestern Africa	0.2329	0.4052	0.1512	0.0318	0.3351	0.6743
162	SudanSDNNorthern Africa	0.2236	0.3883	0.1660	0.1776	0.0327	0.7010
163	YemenYEMWestern Asia	0.2177	0.2301	0.1426	0.1397	0.3441	0.6531
164	Equatorial GuineaGNQMiddle Africa	0.2097	0.2802	0.2622	0.0000	0.1170	0.7405
165	Burkina FasoBFAWestern Africa	0.2089	0.1377	0.0834	0.1618	0.2370	0.8019
166	AfghanistanAFGSouthern Asia	0.2055	0.2898	0.2002	0.0738	0.2175	0.6083
167	ChadTCDMiddle Africa	0.1847	0.2096	0.0559	0.0738	0.3087	0.7185
168	BurundiBDIEastern Africa	0.1737	0.1262	0.1646	0.0000	0.2671	0.7632
169	DR CongoCODMiddle Africa	0.1600	0.1963	0.1826	0.0893	0.1166	0.6559
170	Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa	0.0460	0.3149	0.1348	0.0504	0.4158	0.0000
171	South SudanSSDEastern Africa	0.0000	0.0000	0.0000	0.0000	0.0344	0.5294

02In 2018

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline, then the highest and lowest on each other measure.

Highest

1United States1.0000
2Sweden0.9833
3United Kingdom0.9673
4Netherlands0.9632
5Singapore0.9595

Lowest

171South Sudan0.0000
170Sierra Leone0.0460
169DR Congo0.1600
168Burundi0.1737
167Chad0.1847

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.4827. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

ICT deployment
HighestSingapore1.0000
LowestSouth Sudan0.0000
Middle country: 0.6199
Skills
HighestAustralia1.0000
LowestSouth Sudan0.0000
Middle country: 0.4540
Research and development
HighestChina1.0000
Lowest11 share it
Middle country: 0.2123
Industry activity
HighestIreland1.0000
LowestIraq0.0000
Middle country: 0.4221
Access to finance
HighestHong Kong1.0000
LowestSierra Leone0.0000
Middle country: 0.8458

032017 → 2018

Since 2017

What changed between 2017 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
169values changed, of 171 in both
159 · 10rose · fell
2unchanged

Rose most

Liberia0.1986 → 0.3355+0.1369
Nepal0.3199 → 0.4530+0.1331
Madagascar0.1794 → 0.3002+0.1208
Tanzania0.1693 → 0.2722+0.1029
Gabon0.2503 → 0.3506+0.1003

Fell most

Eswatini0.4267 → 0.4140−0.0127
Netherlands0.9749 → 0.9632−0.0117
South Korea0.9358 → 0.9274−0.0084
Comoros0.2441 → 0.2358−0.0083
South Sudan0.0067 → 0.0000−0.0067

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

The site’s method

One year of the 2025 release
Every year in this series comes from UNCTAD’s 2025 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 2018.
The position is ours
UNCTAD publishes values only. The order here sorts the published values, and the page says so wherever it prints one.
Which end is better
A higher value is the better result.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 171 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
171 rows · 11 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download frontier-technology-readiness-2018-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
UNCTAD’s own file, on its own site.
US_FTRI

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY 3.0 IGO. The version of CC BY written for intergovernmental organisations. Credit the publisher and say what you changed.

Cite this edition

UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) (2018). Frontier Technology Readiness Index, 2018 [data set], describing 2018. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/frontier-technology-readiness/2018

0614 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Frontier Technology Readiness Index, 2017
171 countries
The year after ›
Frontier Technology Readiness Index, 2019
171 countries
All of them
Frontier Technology Readiness Index: every year
14 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions