Korea Climbs Eight Places to 10th in Global Digital and AI Ranking

South Korea moved up eight places to rank 10th among 70 economies in the 2026 World Digital and AI Competitiveness Ranking, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced on Nov. 11. The result returns the country to the top 10 after a ninth-place finish in 2024 and a slide to 18th last year.

The ranking comes from the International Institute for Management Development, a Swiss business school. Among the 32 countries with populations above 20 million, Korea placed fourth, behind the United States, Canada and China.

How does the ranking work?

The WDAIR measures how well economies adapt and respond to changes in AI and digital technology, and their capacity to develop it. It draws on 88 indicators grouped into 15 sub-categories across five areas: governance, technology infrastructure, efficiency, workforce development, and values and behavior.

The IMD previously compiled the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking. It revamped that framework into the WDAIR this year and will apply the new criteria retroactively to country rankings dating back to 2022.

Where did Korea gain ground?

Korea improved in all five areas from last year and ranked third out of 70 economies in both technology infrastructure and efficiency.

Specific results include:

• First place in total R&D spending as a share of GDP
• Eighth in AI research papers
• Eighth on the AI adoption index
• 18th in implementation of a national AI strategy
• 20th in corporate agility

Access to venture capital remained a weak point. Korea ranked 35th even after rising 11 places from last year. That indicator tracks how easily startups and emerging technology firms raise funding from investors. Legal support for technology development and use stayed at 55th, unchanged.

Elsewhere, Korea rose to 27th from 34th in governance, to 20th from 24th in workforce development, and to 16th from 19th in values and behavior.

Where does Korea still lag?

Several workforce and cooperation indicators pulled the overall score down. Korea ranked 35th in public-private cooperation supporting technology development and 44th in attracting highly skilled foreign talent. Its ranking for securing digital technology workers was 59th. In a newly introduced sub-category measuring corporate understanding of AI security risks, Korea placed 25th.

Who leads the global table?

The United States, fourth last year, moved up to first. Canada, last year's leader, fell to fifth. In the Asia-Pacific region, Singapore ranked second, China seventh and Japan 19th.

An official at the Ministry of Science and ICT attributed the eight-place gain to resilience at home and the government's commitment to AI. "We will continue to improve our competitiveness by pressing ahead with core digital and AI policies, including the three mega projects and the seven SEED projects, without setbacks," the official said.

Korea's return to the top 10 rests on infrastructure and efficiency; funding access and talent indicators still sit far below it.