In the World Digital and AI Ranking (WDAIR) 2026 published today (November 11) by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), Hong Kong ranked 11th globally among 70 economies, and ranked fourth in Asia.
Among the five factors in WDAIR 2026, Hong Kong ranked among the world's top 10 in "Workforce development" (2nd), "Efficiency" (5th) and "Technology & infrastructure" (10th). At the sub-factor level, Hong Kong ranked first globally in three sub-factors, namely "Technological framework", "Practices" and "Education & training", and also ranked among the world's top 10 in "Talent" (5th), "Societal attitudes" (6th) and "Regulatory framework" (8th).
A Government spokesman today said, "The IMD's WDAIR 2026 recognised Hong Kong as one of the world's most competitive economies in the areas of digital and AI developments. Our country supports Hong Kong to develop into an international innovation and technology (I&T) centre. Following the directions set out in the First Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (2026-2030), the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government is fully committed to developing Hong Kong into an international I&T centre. Among other things, Hong Kong will enhance the institutional framework for I&T development, expedite the alignment with key national strategies in technology, and develop the new 'three major I&T parks and five key research and development (R&D) institutions' paradigm. In particular, the Hong Kong Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone and San Tin Technopole will form a co-ordinated development at the upstream, midstream and downstream levels, creating a comprehensive industrial ecosystem covering R&D, commercialisation, pilot and mass production. Hong Kong will also advance new industrialisation having regard to local circumstances, with a view to establishing a framework with Hong Kong characteristics for the development of new industrialisation, as well as take forward the Artificial Intelligence+ (AI+) Initiative on all fronts, enhance the layout of computing infrastructure, support small-and-medium-sized enterprises in accelerating their adoption of AI, and empower different sectors of the economy through AI technology."
The spokesman added, "The HKSAR Government is actively taking forward a number of concrete measures. On the upstream research front, we will consolidate and enhance the 'dual base' advantage of the InnoHK Research Clusters and the State Key Laboratories in Hong Kong, and continue to advance the development of the Hong Kong Microelectronics Research and Development Institute, the Hong Kong Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Institute and the Life and Health Technology Research Institute, so as to further improve the layout of Hong Kong's public research system. On the industry development, we will accelerate the development of national strategic emerging industries and foster new quality productive forces through preparing for the establishment of Hong Kong's first national manufacturing innovation centre. We will also enhance the AI ecosystem from multiple dimensions, including computing power, funding and risk management. Construction of the Sandy Ridge Data Facility Cluster has commenced and is expected to be fully operational by 2032 or earlier, providing computing power of 180 000 peta-floating point operations per second (PFLOPS), equivalent to 36 times Hong Kong's current computing power. We have also launched the AI Subsidy Scheme to support the industry in using high-performance computing power for frontier research, and are optimising the Digital Transformation Support Pilot Programme to provide matching subsidies to support more small and medium enterprises in applying AI and cybersecurity solutions. The HKSAR Government will also continue to build a digital government and enhance the quality of public services. 'iAM Smart' has achieved the goal of a 'single portal for online government services', with daily usage exceeding 220 000 and providing access to more than 1 400 online services from government, public and private organisations as well as government e-forms. The AI Efficacy Enhancement Team drives government departments to effectively apply AI technology. It has so far facilitated 30 efficacy-enhancing projects involving 13 departments. Going forward, the HKSAR Government will continue to promote closer collaboration among the Government and the industry, academia, research and investment sectors, consolidate and enhance our competitive edge in the global market, and provide the public with more convenient, efficient and reliable public services."
WDAIR succeeds the prior World Digital Competitiveness Ranking with the addition of a substantial set of AI-specific indicators. It assesses an economy's capacity to develop and/or adopt, deploy and govern digital technologies and AI in a manner that produces sustained economic and societal value. The ranking is organised around five factors, namely "Governance", "Technology & infrastructure", "Efficiency", "Workforce development", and "Values". Each factor is further divided into three sub-factors, leading to 15 sub-factors in total which comprise 88 individual indicators. In WDAIR 2026, IMD also provided retrospective ranking for individual economies from 2022-2025. Hong Kong's ranking ranged from 9th to 16th during the period.