The United States ranked third internationally in attracting, developing and retaining talent, according to the 2019 Global Talent Competitiveness Index. Canada ranked 15th. The index features 125 national economies and 114 cities.

The index is published by graduate business school INSEAD in partnership with The Adecco Group and Tata Communications. The annual report measures how countries and cities grow, attract and retain talent by looking at 68 variables.

This year’s report has a special focus on entrepreneurial talent — how it is being encouraged, nurtured and developed throughout the world and how this affects the relative competitiveness of different economies. The highest-ranking countries and cities tend to be the most open to entrepreneurial talent, and digitalization and globalization are increasing the role of entrepreneurial talent.

For 2019, the index provided a longitudinal analysis of talent competitiveness based on the results of all the index editions since 2013. The main finding is that the gap separating the talent champions from the rest of the global community has been growing. Talent competitiveness is strengthening in groups of countries where it is already comparatively high and weakening in those where it is relatively low.

Here are the top 10:

1. Switzerland
2. Singapore
3. United States
4. Norway
5. Denmark
6. Finland
7. Sweden
8. Netherlands
9. United Kingdom
10. Luxembourg

The report also found that cities rather than countries are developing stronger roles as talent hubs and will be crucial to reshaping the global talent scene. “This growing importance of cities is due to their greater flexibility and ability to adapt to new trends and patterns — as nimble economic units where policy can be changed more swiftly, cities are thus more attractive for talent, especially entrepreneurial talent,” the report stated.

Here are the top 10 cities: 

1. Washington DC
2. Copenhagen
3. Oslo
4. Vienna
5. Zurich
6. Boston
7. Helsinki
8. New York
9. Paris
10. Seoul

“As the world of work rapidly changes, there is a danger that if countries and cities do not have the right conditions for attracting talent, people and businesses will move away and look for opportunities elsewhere,” said Alain Dehaze, CEO of The Adecco Group. “The results of this year’s [Global Talent Competitiveness Index] report are further evidence of how entrepreneurial talent is being increasingly seen as one way of successfully navigating a world in constant flux. Nurturing it is a vital part of creating the right environment for talent to flourish and to lay the seeds for success in the future.”