International Rankings of Israel

Israel appears in recurring global indices that assess subjects ranging from citizens' wellbeing to foreign perceptions of its national brand. These indices fall into broad clusters: human development and quality of life; democratic governance and civil liberties; innovation and economic competitiveness; peace, security, and fragility; and international reputation and soft power. Because each index uses different indicators, scales, and reference periods, a country's ordinal position in one ranking cannot be directly compared with its position in another.[1][2]

The material surveyed here spans historical and current editions and includes official, intergovernmental, research, and survey-based sources.[3][4] Recent results place Israel near the front of many development, happiness, and innovation comparisons, while other indices give it substantially lower positions for press freedom, peace, and international reputation.[5][5]

The United Nations Human Development Index (HDI) combines measures of life expectancy, education, and income to assign countries to one of four development tiers. Israel has generally appeared in the "very high" tier in the years listed by the Jewish Virtual Library, although its 2000 entry is labeled "high."[6] Its historical positions in the Jewish Virtual Library regional table include 21st in 1995, 23rd in 2000, 23rd in 2005, 15th in 2010, and 18th in 2015.[6] A separate 2019 page from the same source lists Israel 19th globally.[7]

More recent data shows continued high placement. The Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) placed Israel 22nd of 191 countries in the 2021 HDI, above Sri Lanka at 73rd and Myanmar at 149th.[8] The most current figure in the research bundle, based on 2023 data and published in the 2025 HDI edition, places Israel 27th of 193 countries with a score of 0.919.[5] That edition gives Israel an average of 13.5 years of schooling, eighth globally, and life expectancy of 82.4 years, 19th globally.[5] Its overall rank was four places lower than in the preceding edition, but that ordinal movement alone does not identify its cause.

The World Happiness Report ranks countries primarily through self-assessed life evaluations using the Cantril Ladder, on which respondents rate their lives from zero to ten. It also analyzes GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and absence of corruption.[9][10] The Jewish Virtual Library records Israel at fourth in 2023, fifth in 2024, eighth in 2025, and eighth in 2026.[9]

The 2025 report, based on life evaluations averaged across 2022–2024, placed Israel eighth.[11] Coverage of the following edition again placed Israel eighth; Mako reported that responses from 2025 alone would have placed it fifth, while earlier post-October 7 observations lowered the three-year result.[9][5] Israeli young adults ranked first worldwide for the reported quality of social connections among people aged 18 to 24.[5] Researcher Anat Panti attributed Israel's resilience to family, community, faith, belonging, and strong social ties.[10] On the report's freedom measure, however, Israel ranked 87th among approximately 130 countries.[11]

Israel's standing as a technology center is reflected across several innovation rankings. In the World Intellectual Property Organization's Global Innovation Index (GII), the U.S. Department of State's 2025 Investment Climate Statement places Israel 15th of 133 economies in the 2024 edition.[3] That was a slight improvement over the 2022 result of 16th of 132 economies recorded in the Department's 2023 statement.[12] Mako's 2026 review gives Israel 14th of 139 economies in the 2025 GII, with a score of 52.3 out of 100, one position higher than in 2024.[5]

Breaking the GII into components, Israel placed 25th for innovation inputs, such as institutions, infrastructure, human capital, and business conditions, and 13th for innovation outputs, including patents, scientific publications, and technology exports.[5] Subcategory highlights include sixth place for technology and knowledge outputs and ninth for business-sector innovation, though Israel ranked 45th for infrastructure and 36th for institutions.[5] The results depict strong innovation outputs alongside comparatively weaker enabling conditions.

In artificial intelligence, an INSS article from 2023 reported that Israel had risen from sixth to fifth in a global AI index. It attributed part of the gain to an improved government-policy score, publication of a national AI plan, and about NIS 2 billion in funding.[13] A 2025 OECD Economic Survey placed Israel ninth globally in a 2024 benchmarking exercise measuring AI investment, innovation, and implementation; the survey described Israel as having a dynamic AI sector with a strong presence in software development and marketing.[4]

A later INSS analysis distinguishes among the Tortoise Media Global AI Index, Oxford Insights' Government AI Readiness Index, and Stanford's Global AI Vibrancy Tool, noting that their different indicators and scoring methods can produce different results.[2] The authors identified a consistent downward trend in Israel's Tortoise ranking and a more variable Oxford pattern: stability from 2019 through 2022, a decline in 2023, and improvement in 2024. They characterized some apparent gains as superficial because Oxford and Stanford treated a published Israeli AI policy document as an officially adopted national policy.[2]

The U.S. Department of State also reported that Israel had 135 companies listed on NASDAQ, the fourth-highest national count after the United States, Canada, and China.[3]

Israel's economic scale is substantial relative to its population. INSS placed Israel 26th globally in GDP in 2021, with output of $488 billion, and 97th in population.[8]

In the Heritage Foundation's 2026 Index of Economic Freedom, Israel ranked 41st of 184 countries and scored 68.4 out of 100, classified as "moderately free."[5] The index evaluates 12 components across rule of law, government size, regulatory efficiency, and open markets. Israel's highest component score was trade freedom at 82.8, while government spending was its lowest at 52.[5] Its position had declined during the preceding two years and most of the preceding decade; the cited high point was 16th place in 2020.[5]

On regulatory transparency, the World Bank's Global Indicators of Regulatory Governance gave Israel a score of 3.5 out of 5, reflecting whether governments publish proposed regulations or consult the public before enacting them.[3] This is a score rather than an ordinal country ranking.

Several indices assess Israel's democratic institutions, with results varying according to their indicators and weighting.

The Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index assessed Israel at 23rd of 167 countries in 2021, ahead of Spain, Portugal, Italy, and the United States.[14] By 2025, Israel's rank in that index was 30th, with a score of 7.80 out of 10, unchanged from the preceding year; the index classified Israel as a "flawed democracy."[5] Its categories are electoral process and pluralism, government functioning, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties.

Freedom House's 2025 Freedom in the World report assigned Israel a score of 73 out of 100 and 79th place among 208 countries, classifying it as "Free."[5] That assessment evaluates political rights and civil liberties through reviews by researchers and experts.

V-Dem offers a more critical assessment. A report published in 2024 classified Israel as an "electoral democracy" rather than a "liberal democracy" for 2023, the first such classification change in more than 50 years. It attributed the change primarily to declines in indicators concerning the transparency and predictability of law and government attacks on the judiciary, and described Israel as the only electoral democracy in its Middle East and North Africa group.[15] The 2026 V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index gives Israel a score of 0.59 and 48th place, with the designation "electoral democracy+" since 2023.[5]

Historical data from the Israel Democracy Institute's 2012 comparative study offers additional detail. That report compared Israel on 14 indicators compiled by international research institutes relative to 27 other countries.[1] On political participation, Israel scored 8.33 and ranked third among the countries compared, between New Zealand and Switzerland.[1] On the EIU's functioning-of-government indicator, Israel fell within positions 9 to 13 with a score of 7.5; on electoral process and pluralism, it scored 8.75 and placed 18th to 19th.[1]

The same report found Israel at the bottom of the OECD Better Life Index civic-engagement comparison, with a score of 1.8. It attributed the result to factors including 65% voter turnout in the 2009 election, low trust in the Knesset, and limited government transparency.[1] The report contrasted that result with Israel's third-place EIU political-participation position, explaining that different methodologies produced divergent outcomes.[1] On civil liberties, Israel scored 5.59 on the EIU measure and placed in positions 20 to 21 alongside Lebanon.[1]

A 2018 overview from the Center for Israel Education summarized Israel as ranking 20th on the EIU Government Functioning index, alongside Great Britain, Portugal, and France, and 26th of 35 OECD countries on the World Bank Rule of Law index.[16] It characterized Israel's standing as relatively favorable for political participation, government performance, and curbing corruption, but lower for civil rights and press freedom, placing Israel "in the middle to lower end of the pack of OECD countries" overall.[16]

Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) measures expert and business perceptions of public-sector corruption on a scale from zero, highly corrupt, to 100, very clean. Country scores draw on surveys and assessments from multiple sources.[5] The U.S. Department of State's 2023 statement reported Israel at 31st of 180 countries in the 2022 CPI.[12] The Department's 2025 statement placed Israel 30th of 180 in the 2024 edition.[3]

In the 2025 CPI, Israel scored 62 and ranked 35th of 182 countries, five places and two points below the previous edition.[5] The same account gives a global average of 42 and reports that two-thirds of countries scored below 50.[5]

Reporters Without Borders produces the annual World Press Freedom Index, which evaluates 180 countries and territories. Its score ranges from zero to 100 and combines a quantitative tally of abuses with qualitative expert analysis; the current methodology covers political, legal, economic, sociocultural, and security conditions for journalism.[17][5] The Jewish Virtual Library reports Israel at 101st in the 2024 edition.[17]

By 2025, Israel's position had declined to 112th of 180 countries, with a score of 51.055 in the index's "difficult" category.[5] Context cited for the result includes wartime journalist deaths, military censorship, and restrictions on reporting from combat areas without IDF supervision; some incidents involving journalist deaths are disputed in Israel.[5] For regional comparison, Qatar ranked 84th and the Palestinian territories 157th in the 2024 edition.[17]

The Global Peace Index, produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace, assesses 163 countries using 23 indicators across personal and societal security, internal and external conflict, and militarization. The 2025 edition placed Israel 155th of 163 countries in the index's "very low peace" group.[18]

Mako gives Israel a score of 3.108 out of 5 in that edition, where a lower score denotes greater peacefulness. This was a slight deterioration from 3.064 in the previous edition, although the rank remained unchanged.[5] Particularly weak indicators included political stability and relations with neighboring countries.[5] Israel scored comparatively better on refugee numbers, suicide rates, and some crime- and violence-related criteria.[5] For regional context, Lebanon ranked 136th, Iran 142nd, and Syria 157th.[18]

The Fragile States Index, which assesses vulnerability to conflict or state collapse across 12 criteria, placed Israel 129th of 179 countries in the 2024 edition with a score of 51.5 out of 120. This was a deterioration from 143rd place and a score of 44.1 in the preceding edition.[5] The account attributes Israel's relative strengths to its economy and public services, and its vulnerabilities to social divisions and tensions among elites in society and institutions.[5]

Israel's results in perception-based national-reputation indices diverge sharply from its performance on development and innovation measures. The Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands Index (NBI) surveys international perceptions across tourism, people, culture, governance, exports, and immigration and investment. The 2025 survey included approximately 40,000 respondents in 20 countries.

The Jerusalem Post and Jewish Virtual Library report that Israel ranked last among 50 countries in both the 2024 and 2025 NBI editions.[19][20] The 2025 edition recorded a 6.1% decline in Israel's overall score, described as the largest single-year drop in the index's history.[20] Israel ranked last in human sentiment, encompassing trust, empathy, and goodwill toward citizens, and in perceptions of exports and products.[20] Ynet reported one comparatively favorable result in science and technology, where Israel ranked 36th.[21]

Coverage differed after the Palestinian Authority was added for comparative purposes: Ynet's published overall list placed Israel immediately above the Palestinian Authority, while the Jerusalem Post and Jewish Virtual Library described Israel as last among the NBI's 50 countries.[21][19]

In the 2024 Brand Finance Global Soft Power Index, Israel ranked 32nd globally with a score of 48.7. The United Arab Emirates ranked 10th with 57.7, Saudi Arabia 18th with 56.8, and Qatar 21st with 54.5.[22]

The NBI is a survey of perceptions rather than an objective assessment of national performance. Its results capture international opinion during a defined research period, and coverage of the 2024 and 2025 findings linked the sharp deterioration to the period of the Israel–Hamas war.[19][20]

The Henley Passport Index ranks passports by the number of destinations their holders can enter without obtaining a prior visa. In January 2025, Israel ranked 19th with access to 170 destinations.[23] By July it had briefly risen to 18th, even as the number of accessible destinations fell to 168.[23] By October, Israel ranked 20th with access to 165 destinations after losing visa-free access to Mauritania, the Maldives, Colombia, Somalia, and Myanmar. The changes involving Colombia and the Maldives were attributed to waivers revoked amid the Israel–Hamas war, while the other changes reflected broader policy decisions.[23]

The World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report measures equality across economic participation, educational attainment, health, and political empowerment on a scale from zero, inequality, to one, equality. Israel ranked 76th of 148 countries in the 2025 edition with a score of 0.709, improving from 91st place in the prior edition.[5] Israel ranked first globally for educational attainment.[5] Its political-empowerment score was substantially lower at 0.152, while the indicator for years with a female or male head of state was 0.009.[5]

The Economist's Big Mac Index is an informal purchasing-power-parity comparison using the local price of a McDonald's Big Mac to estimate whether currencies are overvalued or undervalued relative to the U.S. dollar. In January 2026 data, Israel ranked eighth of 54 currencies. An Israeli Big Mac cost $6.36, compared with $6.12 in the United States, implying that the shekel was approximately 3.9% above its estimated fair value against the dollar.[5] The informal index is not comparable in scope or methodology to the principal development, governance, or security indices.

A recurring theme is that different methodologies produce different, and sometimes conflicting, assessments. The Israel Democracy Institute's 2012 report cautioned that its 14 indicators used different methodologies and scales. It illustrated the problem by contrasting Israel's third-place result on the EIU political-participation indicator with its bottom-of-OECD result on the OECD Better Life Index civic-engagement measure.[1][1]

The INSS analysis of the Tortoise, Oxford, and Stanford AI indices similarly argued that different indicators and scoring methods produced different outcomes. It questioned whether improvements in two indices reflected substantive policy change or their treatment of a published policy document as an officially adopted national policy.[2] Even within one publication, figures may conflict: an INSS technology report reproduced two Global Innovation Index positions for Israel in 2021, placing it 15th in one figure and 10th in another.[24]

Perception-based indices require particular care. The Nation Brands Index measures how foreign publics perceive a country rather than its objective conditions.[19] World Happiness Report rankings use multiyear averages, meaning that annual changes can be smoothed: current coverage reported that Israel's 2025 responses alone would have produced a higher position than its three-year result.[5] Conclusions drawn from any single ranking should therefore account for its scope, methodology, denominator, and reference period.

Several results require interpretation within their stated methodology. V-Dem's 2024 report attributed Israel's reclassification from a liberal to an electoral democracy to indicators involving legal transparency, predictability, and attacks on the judiciary.[15] The World Press Freedom Index result incorporates wartime reporting conditions, censorship, and journalist deaths, some of which are disputed in Israel.[5]

The Nation Brands Index documents surveyed perceptions in 20 countries rather than objective conditions in Israeli governance, culture, or industry.[19][20] Likewise, Israel's low Global Peace Index position reflects that index's weighting of active conflict, militarization, political stability, and regional relations; it should not be read as a comprehensive measure of every aspect of Israeli society or personal safety.[18]