The World Economic Forum (WEF) – the Geneva-based non-profit famous for hosting the annual Davos conference – just issued its first-ever Human Capital Index. The goal of the Index is, per a press release published by the organization, to identify “the most successful countries in the world when it comes to maximizing the long-term economic potential of their respective labour forces,” which is a function of “their ability to develop and deploy healthy, educated and able workers.”

Israel ranked 25th globally. Evaluated against the region, the results were not close:

The evaluation aligns well with other economic measures of Israeli economic development and innovation. The Moody’s ratings house recently reaffirmed Israel’s A1 rating, citing Israel’s international ties and regional position. The country is an acknowledged global leader in technology and innovation – stories about record-setting acquisitions by American tech giants are becoming fairly routine – and a recent summit highlighted the role Israeli innovation can play in boosting sustainability throughout Asia.

Israel’s financial daily Globes inserts some caveats and then goes for the layup:

Israel stands out favorably for several indicators: 5th out of 122 for secondary education enrolment rate; 3rd for life expectancy; joint 1st with many countries for water, sanitation and hygiene; 22nd for healthcare quality; 11th for ease of finding skilled employees; 4th for capacity for innovation; 5th for firm level technology absorption; 7th for scientific and technical journal articles (per 1,000 people); 8th for business and university R&D collaboration; and 2nd in the world for tertiary education attainment.

[Photo: World Economic Forum / Wiki Commons]