https://unctadstat.unctad.org/EN/Pci.html Home icon Welcome to UNCTADstat Francais English UNCTAD banner * About * Data >> + Release calendar + Data Centre + Nowcasts + Help * Country Profiles >> + General profile + Maritime profile * Data exploration >> + Revealed comparative advantage + Biotrade + Transport cost + Productive Capacities Index * Infographics * Documentation >> + Classifications + Indicators explained + Abbreviations + F.A.Q. Productive Capacities Index PCI Logo UNCTAD's Productive Capacities Index is a dynamic and practical tool to support developing countries in understanding the status of their productive capacity and how this can be improved. It builds on UNCTAD's long-standing work on productive capacities, which are essential for generating inclusive and sustained economic growth and achieving sustainable development. The PCI covers 194 economies for the period 2000-2022. The set of productive capacities and their specific combinations are mapped across 42 indicators. This makes our PCI multidimensional in its analytical abilities. The PCI can help diagnose the areas where countries may be leading or falling behind, spotlighting where policies are working and where corrective efforts are needed. It suggests a roadmap for future policy actions and interventions under each of its eight components: human capital, natural capital, energy, ICTs, structural change, transport, institutions and the private sector. The PCI was developed in response to the ECOSOC resolution (E/RES/ 2017/29), encouraging UNCTAD "to pursue its methodological work to measure progress in and identify obstacles to the development of productive capacities in developing countries". The PCI has been peer-reviewed and validated at national and regional levels by leading technical experts across the UN system, as well as by academics and government stakeholders. Stakeholders in select countries have been trained on how to use the index in their development policymaking processes. UNCTAD stands ready to conduct more training sessions at the request of countries. What are productive capacities? UNCTAD has long defined productive capacities as "the productive resources, entrepreneurial capabilities and production linkages, which together determine the capacity of a country to produce goods and services and enable it to grow and develop." * Productive resources are factors of production, including different types of productive resources and capital. They include financial capital and physical capital, the latter comprising both machinery and equipment (typically operating at the firm / farm level) and infrastructure. * Entrepreneurial capabilities are the skills, knowledge, and information which enterprises have. They comprise entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial capabilities, and technological capabilities. They include the important skills required for investment, production and establishing linkages at the firm / farm level. * Production linkages are flows among productive units (firms / farms) of goods and services, knowledge, technology and information, and productive resources, including human resources). They include exchanges among productive units of different sizes (micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and large ones), and ownership structures (domestic / foreign, public / private), operating in different sectors. What role do productive capacities play? Developing productive capacities, plays a central role in setting in motion the long-term process of structural transformation, which is the backbone of sustainable development. The available evidence shows no nation has developed without fostering productive capacities and structural economic transformation. Building the economic resilience of developing countries remains a daunting challenge. It depends fundamentally on creating, maintaining and using productive capacities to realize development objectives. This requires a shift from the current fragmented and project-based interventions towards coherent, economy-wide and programme-based approaches to removing binding constraints on development. Actions and interventions at the domestic level need to be supported and complemented by additional robust international support. The PCI makes an important contribution to these efforts. The index draws on decades of extensive research and policy analysis work, as well as lessons learned from UNCTAD's technical support to the most vulnerable countries in developing key aspects of their trade and productive structures. The index is the first comprehensive attempt to measure productive capacities in all economies and construct a multidimensional index that can provide country-specific insights and diagnostics of productive capacity development. PCI and its components The overall index summarises the state of productive capacities in economies worldwide by computing scores that range between 0 and 100 (boundaries not included). PCI also offers country scores to help in understanding the sources of systemic vulnerabilities and identifying the enablers of economic growth, including progress towards national and global development targets. For statistical and measurement purposes, the overall PCI index is further broken down into the following eight categories: information and communication technologies (ICTs), structural change, natural capital, human capital, energy, transport, the private sector and institutions. PCI: Human CapitalHuman capital Human capital captures the education, skills and health conditions possessed by population, and the overall research and development integration in the texture of society through the number of researchers and expenditure on research activities. The gender dimension is reflected by the fertility rate which at each increase reduces human capital score. PCI: Human CapitalNatural capital Natural capital estimates the availability of extractive and agricultural resources, including rents generated from the extraction of the natural resource, less the cost of extracting the resource. To capture commodity dependence, natural capital decreases as the material intensity increases. PCI: Human CapitalEnergy This category measures the availability, sustainability and efficiency of power sources. For this reason, it is composed by use and access to energy, losses in distribution and renewability of energy components and sources, and includes the GDP generated by each unit of oil to highlight further the importance of optimal energy systems. PCI: Human CapitalTransport Transport measures the capability of a system to take people or goods from one place to another. It is defined as the capillarity of roads and railway network and air connectivity. PCI: Human CapitalInformation and Communication Technology (ICT) Information and Communication Technology estimates the accessibility and integration of communication systems within the population. It includes fixed line and mobile phones users, internet accessibility and server security. PCI: Human CapitalInstitutions Institutions aim at measuring political stability and efficiency through its regulatory quality, effectiveness, success in fighting criminality, corruption and terrorism, and safeguard of citizens' freedom of expression and association. PCI: Human CapitalPrivate sector Private sector is defined by the ease of cross-border trade, which includes time and monetary costs to export and import, and the support to business in terms of domestic credit, velocity of contract enforcement and time required to start a business. PCI: Human CapitalStructural Change Structural change refers to the movement of labour and other productive resources from low-productivity to high-productivity economic activities. This shift is currently captured by the sophistication and variety of exports, the intensity of fixed capital and the weight of industry and services on total GDP. Structural change can also happen within a given sector provided that binding constraints in a particular sector are identified and effectively addressed. PCI_FullDataset Data Sources and Approach The PCI data are drawn from a variety of internationally comparable and rigorous data sources, including UNCTADstat, the World Bank, the World Health Organization, UNESCO, the OECD, the International Telecommunications Union, International Civil Aviation Authority, UNEP, and many others. The PCI was calculated following rigorous internationally recognized statistical and econometric methodologies for developing a composite index. We worked with expert statisticians from UNCTAD, the United Nations Development Programme, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and leading academics to peer review and validate the methodology. As with any composite index and all statistical indicators, there are limitations to the PCI. Above all, the PCI scores are ultimately a reflection of the accuracy and availability of the data used. The available data are limited for certain indicators and for some countries. The results are also dependent on the methodology used and the assumptions made. The PCI's value lies in its aptness, methodological rigour and robustness, as a pointer that enables national decision makers to gain a sense of the current state of productive capacities. More on the PCI methodology is available in UNCTAD Productive Capacities Index: Methodological Approach and Results. PCI publicatons UNCTAD Productive Capacities Index: Focus on Landlocked Developing CountriesUNCTAD Productive Capacities Index: Focus on Landlocked Developing Countries This study provides an in-depth analysis of the challenges to productive capacity development in landlocked developing countries. It reveals that the average scores of landlocked developing countries lag behind those of developing regions in seven of the eight categories comprising the Index, although landlocked developing countries have scores slightly above the average scores of the least developed countries. UNCTAD Productive Capacities Index: Focus on Landlocked Developing CountriesUNCTAD Productive Capacities Index: Methodological Approach and Results This publication has been designed as a user-friendly and step-by-step guide to PCI. It walks the user through the methodological foundations of the index, aligned with the mandates given by the international community in the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2011-2020 (Istanbul Programme of Action), the Vienna Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries for the Decade 2014-2024 and the Nairobi Azimio and Nairobi Maafikiano, among others. It also provides a detailed overview of the index, its requisite categories and, importantly, the insights drawn from its results. PCI visualization The interactive maps presented below have been designed to help users explore PCI data over time and space. Visualizing data spatially is a critical tool for revealing geographical patterns. The PCI results presented cover 194 economies over the period 2000-2022. Measuring and benchmarking productive capacities globally reveals significant gaps, not only between developed and developing economies, but also among developing countries themselves. The Productive Capacities Index demonstrates that differences in socio-economic development across countries and regions are a consequence of gaps in their productive capacities. Structurally weak and vulnerable economies, including the least developed countries (LDCs) and landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) perform particularly poorly on PCI. World map - PCI overall and component indices Notes: This map presents the world as configured today. As the dataset begins with the year 2000 it must, by necessity, incorporate several geopolitical developments and changes that have occurred over the subsequent 20 years. The performance of small island developing States (SIDS) must be understood in the context of their unique geographical and structural characteristics. Due to their demographic features (small population) and smaller size and/or surface area, small island developing States perform better when measured using indicators that utilize population-related or geographical ratios as units of measurement. Furthermore, the relative shift of economic activities in SIDS towards the services sector, in particular financial intermediation and tourism and other intangible services and the acceleration of human capital development in these economies influences their performance. Regional maps - PCI overall and component indices Average overall PCI scores for all economic groups improved in 2000-2022, although to varying degrees. However, there are significant gaps in the average scores observed across and between the different groups. With regard to LDCs and LLDCs, their overall PCI scores was driven by their high levels of natural capital, which entrenches increased commodity dependence rather than facilitating economic diversification or structural transformation. Overall trends also show communality among all groups, namely, a steeper rise in the first half of the period and a more moderate increase in the second half. [Developing countries ] Notes: This map presents the world as configured today. As the dataset begins with the year 2000 it must, by necessity, incorporate a number of geopolitical developments and changes that have occurred over the subsequent 20 years. The performance of small island developing States (SIDS) must be understood in the context of their unique geographical and structural characteristics. Due to their demographic features (small population) and smaller size and/or surface area, small island developing States perform better when measured using indicators that utilize population-related or geographical ratios as units of measurement. Furthermore, the relative shift of economic activities in SIDS towards the services sector, in particular financial intermediation and tourism and other intangible services and the acceleration of human capital development in these economies influences their performance. UNCTAD * Youtube * Facebook * UNCTADstat%20Twitter * Connect with us UNCTAD - Palais des Nations, 8-14, Av. de la Paix, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland statistics@unctad.org * Copyright * CreativeCommons