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Last updated: Wednesday, 4th December, 2024

“Golden opportunity” for civil services to learn from each other, as Singapore tops ranking of 120 public administrations worldwide

Blavatnik Index of Public Administration launches today (Wednesday 4th December, 2024):

Singapore tops the rankings of 120 countries, excelling in areas such as border services and tax administration, as well as innovation strategies and practices - closely followed by Denmark, Canada, Norway and Finland.
The 25 best performing countries span North and South America; West and Eastern Europe; Oceania; and Asia, demonstrating there is learning to be had from across the globe
The Blavatnik Index is based on the best available global data – but more or better information is needed on vital aspects of public administration, for example on inter-departmental collaboration which is essential for solving some of the biggest challenges faced by governments like climate change. There is an opportunity for countries to come together to improve the data available.

Following a year of elections that saw many voters turn against incumbents and elect new governments, the Blavatnik Index of Public Administration aims to catalyse civil service learning and improvement so administrations can effectively deliver on new political mandates.

The Index brings together data on the performance of 120 civil services and public administrations across the globe, with measures such as integrity, openness, crisis management and innovation, to start a conversation about performance improvement and encourage peer learning.

Professor Ngaire Woods, Dean of Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government, said: “This data shines a light into the ‘black box’ of public administration. The results are a clarion call for policymakers to catalyse improvements and a golden opportunity for civil services to look beyond their borders to learn from each other.”

Leo Yip, Head of Singapore’s Civil Service, said: “I’m humbled that Singapore’s public administration has been well rated in this inaugural Index. We in the Singapore civil service have learned so much from the best practice of counterparts and public services around the world. The Index is an important effort to help us learn from one another and improve our own effectiveness, in order to serve our peoples better.”

Building on the success of the previous Index for Civil Service Effectiveness (InCiSE) initiated by former UK Cabinet Secretary, the late Lord Heywood of Whitehall, this expanded and refreshed version of the project considers performance across 3 times as many countries in four key areas including strategy and leadership, public policy, national delivery, and processes and people.

Chaired by Lord Gus O’Donnell, former UK Cabinet Secretary, the Index’s Senior Leadership Panel includes former and current Cabinet Secretaries and senior public administration leaders from around the world.

The Index draws on the best available data but more work is needed to improve globally comparative information about the performance of our civil services. Gaps have been identified where measurement can be improved including cross-government collaboration, financial management, social security and employee engagement. Countries, supported by multilateral organisations, can come together to improve data across these areas and others in the framework.

Key global insights from the Blavatnik Index of Public Administration

Income and civil service performance:

Brazil (33rd) is the highest ranking upper middle income economy for the Index overall, followed by Colombia, Costa Rica and Mauritius (joint 34th), then the Dominican Republic and Indonesia (joint 38th).
Ukraine (47th) is the highest ranking lower middle income economy for the Index overall, followed by Mongolia (50th), India and the Philippines (joint 53rd) and then Jordan, Kenya and Vietnam (joint 59th).
Rwanda (73rd) is the highest ranking low income economy for the Index overall, followed by Uganda (74th), Ethiopia (94th), Togo (99th) and Burkina Faso (101st).
Low-income countries tend to score below average across all domains, however their scores for the People and Processes domain are typically closer to the average than their scores for the other three domains.

Regional leaders:

Norway (2nd) is the highest ranking country in Western Europe, followed by Denmark (3rd), Finland (5th), the United Kingdom (6th), France and Spain (joint 9th).
Estonia (9th) is the highest -ranking country in Eastern Europe for the Index overall, followed by Lithuania (15th), Latvia (19th), Slovenia (24th) and Czechia (28th).
Canada (3rd) is the highest ranking country in the Americas for the Index overall, followed by the United States (9th), Uruguay (20th), Chile (27th), Brazil and Colombia (32nd).
Singapore (1st) is the highest ranking country in Asia and Pacific for the Index overall, followed by New Zealand (6th), Australia (8th), South Korea (15th) and Indonesia (38th).
Israel (24th) is the highest ranking country for the Index overall in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia (MENCA) group, followed by Kazakhstan(40th), Georgia (42nd), Armenia, Jordan and Türkiye (joint 51st).
Mauritius (34th) is the highest ranking country in Sub-Saharan Africa for the Index overall, followed by Kenya (62nd), Rwanda and South Africa (joint 69th), and then Benin, Botswana and Zambia (joint 73rd).

Please contact Cath Elliston, Media and Communications Manager at the Blavatnik School of Government, for any media inquiries: comms@bsg.ox.ac.uk

Notes to Editors

Full details of the framework, methodology and source data are available on the Index website: https://index.bsg.ox.ac.uk. A set of FAQs is also available.

About the Blavatnik School of Government

The Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford (https://www.bsg.ox.ac.uk) is a global school committed to improving the quality of government and public policymaking worldwide. The School pursues this through research, teaching and engagement that is led by the needs of governments and the people they serve.