One of nine capability dimensions
Agency
How able are individuals and organizations to turn an intention into action?
This page puts the country comparison, indicator registry and documented cases together. It shows how much of the capability the current data can see.
52 countries in the frame8 indicators in the registry6 indicators with data51 countries with a score
<iframe src="https://ncb.envisioning.com/embed/compare/BRA/agency" title="Agency country comparison" loading="lazy" width="100%" height="420" style="border:0" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin"></iframe>All countries use the same frame
The table opens alphabetically. Sort by score, confidence, coverage or trend. Scores need two observed indicators; trends use indicators observed at both ends.
Scores use one 0 to 100 scale for all countries. Each flag is a country, and the ring around it carries how well evidenced that score is. Point at a flag to read the country, click it to open the profile.
- Solid ring: usable or good evidence
- Broken ring: thin evidence, opening further as confidence falls
- The shaded band is the middle half of the field and the line inside it is the median.
- United States: 92.6
- Australia: 89.8
- United Kingdom: 87.5
- China: 86.8
- Singapore: 84.9
- Estonia: 84.8
- Canada: 79.4
- South Korea: 78.9
- Sweden: 77.9
- Switzerland: 76.1
- France: 74.8
- Chile: 73.7
- Finland: 73.5
- Netherlands: 72.8
- Thailand: 72.1
- Japan: 71.0
- United Arab Emirates: 70.2
- Ireland: 69.2
- Spain: 66.7
- Israel: 66.4
- Malaysia: 65.5
- Germany: 64.0
- Panama: 60.8
- Uruguay: 60.0
- Brazil: 59.6
- Turkey: 59.5
- Vietnam: 59.2
- South Africa: 59.2
- Costa Rica: 53.4
- Poland: 53.1
- Dominican Republic: 51.9
- Colombia: 50.8
- Argentina: 50.1
- India: 49.6
- Mexico: 49.0
- Peru: 48.6
- Paraguay: 46.2
- Kenya: 43.9
- Nicaragua: 43.4
- Indonesia: 43.3
- El Salvador: 42.6
- Rwanda: 41.5
- Nigeria: 41.3
- Guatemala: 41.0
- Ecuador: 38.7
- Bolivia: 37.7
- Philippines: 34.5
- Venezuela: 33.2
- Honduras: 32.4
- Ethiopia: 23.8
- Haiti: 14.9
| Argentina | 50.1 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +16.9(4) |
| Australia | 89.8 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +5.1(4) |
| Bolivia | 37.7 | 0.60 | 6 of 8 | +22.7(3) |
| Brazil | 59.6 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +20.0(4) |
| Canada | 79.4 | 0.49 | 6 of 8 | +1.5(2) |
| Chile | 73.7 | 0.60 | 6 of 8 | +13.7(4) |
| China | 86.8 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +21.9(4) |
| Colombia | 50.8 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +12.0(4) |
| Costa Rica | 53.4 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +8.2(4) |
| Cuba | not measured | 0.12 | 1 of 8 | no trend |
| Dominican Republic | 51.9 | 0.55 | 6 of 8 | +17.2(3) |
| Ecuador | 38.7 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +18.0(4) |
| El Salvador | 42.6 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +16.1(4) |
| Estonia | 84.8 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +2.6(4) |
| Ethiopia | 23.8 | 0.51 | 6 of 8 | +11.8(3) |
| Finland | 73.5 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +3.6(4) |
| France | 74.8 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +7.7(4) |
| Germany | 64.0 | 0.60 | 6 of 8 | +3.1(4) |
| Guatemala | 41.0 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +8.1(4) |
| Haiti | 14.9 | 0.44 | 6 of 8 | +14.2(2) |
| Honduras | 32.4 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +15.4(4) |
| India | 49.6 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +27.9(4) |
| Indonesia | 43.3 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +22.2(4) |
| Ireland | 69.2 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +2.5(4) |
| Israel | 66.4 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +2.8(4) |
| Japan | 71.0 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +1.9(4) |
| Kenya | 43.9 | 0.60 | 6 of 8 | +11.7(3) |
| Malaysia | 65.5 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +8.6(4) |
| Mexico | 49.0 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +12.7(4) |
| Netherlands | 72.8 | 0.59 | 6 of 8 | -1.1(4) |
| Nicaragua | 43.4 | 0.49 | 5 of 8 | +14.6(3) |
| Nigeria | 41.3 | 0.57 | 6 of 8 | +11.5(4) |
| Panama | 60.8 | 0.55 | 6 of 8 | +12.1(3) |
| Paraguay | 46.2 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +25.1(4) |
| Peru | 48.6 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +22.6(4) |
| Philippines | 34.5 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +16.6(4) |
| Poland | 53.1 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +5.8(4) |
| Rwanda | 41.5 | 0.54 | 6 of 8 | +6.3(3) |
| Singapore | 84.9 | 0.57 | 6 of 8 | +10.7(3) |
| South Africa | 59.2 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +8.8(4) |
| South Korea | 78.9 | 0.60 | 6 of 8 | +6.8(4) |
| Spain | 66.7 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +1.0(4) |
| Sweden | 77.9 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | 0.0(4) |
| Switzerland | 76.1 | 0.51 | 6 of 8 | +1.8(3) |
| Thailand | 72.1 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +18.5(4) |
| Turkey | 59.5 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +16.2(4) |
| United Arab Emirates | 70.2 | 0.52 | 6 of 8 | +2.1(3) |
| United Kingdom | 87.5 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +2.1(4) |
| United States | 92.6 | 0.49 | 5 of 8 | +7.9(3) |
| Uruguay | 60.0 | 0.61 | 6 of 8 | +19.8(4) |
| Venezuela | 33.2 | 0.39 | 5 of 8 | +30.6(2) |
| Vietnam | 59.2 | 0.59 | 6 of 8 | +27.0(4) |
0 to 100 is a position inside the frame every country builds together. Zero is the weakest on a dimension and 100 is the strongest. A score of 10 puts a country near the floor of that frame. It does not mean 10 percent of a capability.
Agency indicators
8 indicators define this capability. Gaps and retired rows remain because they lower confidence. Click a heading to sort.
- Cdirect capability measure Measures the thing itself.
- Icapability input Measures something that supports the capability.
- Odownstream outcome Measures a result that usually follows from the capability.
- Pperception proxy Records what people or experts say, not what they did.
Agency
| Note | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult digital skillsno dataset | C | % of adults | higher is better | ITU | 0.40 | ITU collects this but coverage across these ten countries is broken and the task lists differ by year. |
| Credit to the private sector | I | % of GDP | higher is better | World Bank | 0.55 | Access to finance at the system level. High values can also signal a credit bubble, so it is not monotonic in capability. |
| Financial account ownership | I | % aged 15+ | higher is better | World Bank | 0.50 | Global Findex, published every three years. Precondition for almost any economic action. |
| Individuals using the internet | I | % of population | higher is better | World Bank | 0.55 | Access to the basic tool of modern agency. Saturates near 95%, which compresses the top of the range. |
| New business density | C | per 1,000 aged 15-64 | higher is better | World Bank | 0.35 | Directly observes intention turning into a registered entity. Undercounts informal activity, which matters for India and Brazil. |
| Perceived control over lifeno dataset | P | mean 1-10 | higher is better | World Values Survey | 0.20 | WVS wave 7 covers most of these countries but fieldwork years differ by up to six years, and Singapore is thin. |
| Procedures to start a business | C | count | lower is better | World Bank | 0.15 | Counts bureaucratic steps rather than money, so it does not smuggle income back in. Frozen at 2019 with Doing Business. |
| Time to start a business | C | days | lower is better | World Bank | 0.20 | Activation energy, measured directly. Series ends with Doing Business in 2019, so it is stale everywhere. |
Documented deliveries add context to the data
These records describe a country doing something this capability should capture. They stay outside the score because one case is not a comparable series.
Evidence for missing indicators
Each record describes a case the indicators above cannot see. It does not affect the score or confidence because one case is not comparable across countries. A gap can become an indicator when a comparable series covers at least two countries.
SIBRATEC, the documented innovation-centre networklinked to Adult digital skills, started 2007, delivered and closed
The Ministry of Science and Technology implemented SIBRATEC as a national system of 56 research and development networks, including 14 innovation-centre networks, 20 technological-service networks and 22 extension networks organized across the states to support innovation in micro and small firms.
56 networks, sibratec national r&d networks reported, 2010. Ministry of Science and Technology, Plan of Action in Science, Technology and Innovation 2007-2010 results report, retrieved 2026-08-30.
How it worked: The ministry linked research groups, technology centres and state-level extension networks so firms could reach technical support outside universities and turn a production problem into a shared R&D project.
Limits: The network count records an institutional architecture, not the share of adults who acquired digital skills, improved productivity or gained lasting agency. The report is an official programme account and does not independently evaluate firm-level outcomes. It is the sourced correction to the requested RECINE label: the claimed 2004-2008 RECINE programme and its 28 centres could not be verified.
Read how the benchmark turns an indicator into a score on the method page. The limits page records where this capability is still poorly observed.