Hong Kong ranks 11th globally in digital and AI competitiveness
Hong Kong placed 11th in the IMD World Digital and AI Competitiveness Ranking 2026, with top-10 scores in labour development, efficiency, and technology infrastructure. The government highlighted national support for its innovation drive and outlined plans for AI infrastructure, including the Shatin
Hong Kong has ranked 11th in the 2026 World Digital and Artificial Intelligence Competitiveness Ranking published by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government announced on 11 November.
Among the ranking's five factors, Hong Kong placed second in 'labour development', fifth in 'efficiency' and tenth in 'technology and infrastructure'. In sub-factors, the city achieved first place globally for 'technical framework', 'practices' and 'education and training', and ranked among the top ten for 'talent' (fifth), 'societal attitudes' (sixth) and 'regulatory framework' (eighth).
A government spokesperson said the IMD ranking confirms Hong Kong as one of the world's most competitive economies in digital and AI development, noting national backing for Hong Kong's goal of becoming an international innovation and technology (I&T) hub. The HKSAR government is working towards that objective under its first five-year plan for economic and social development (2026–2030), which includes optimising the I&T system, accelerating alignment with national technology priorities, and building a new structure of 'three major I&T parks and five major research institutes'. In particular, the Hong Kong section of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Cooperation Zone in Lok Ma Chau will collaborate with the San Tin I&T Park to create a complete industrial ecosystem spanning research, development, pilot production and manufacturing.
The spokesperson added that specific measures are being implemented. Upstream research will be strengthened by consolidating the InnoHK research platforms and national key laboratories, while advancing the Hong Kong Microelectronics Research Institute, the Hong Kong AI Research Institute and the Life and Health Research Institute. To accelerate national strategic emerging industries, the government is preparing to establish the first national manufacturing innovation centre in Hong Kong.
On AI infrastructure, the Shatin Data Centre Park has broken ground and is expected to be fully operational by 2032, providing compute power of 180,000 PFLOPS — 36 times Hong Kong's current capacity. An AI funding scheme supports industry use of high-performance computing for cutting-edge research, while a digital transformation pilot programme is being revamped to provide matching grants for more small and medium enterprises to adopt AI and cybersecurity solutions.
The government is also building a digital government. The 'iAM Smart' platform now handles over 220,000 daily transactions and connects to more than 1,400 online services and government e-forms. An AI productivity task force has driven 30 efficiency projects across 13 government departments. The government said it will continue to foster collaboration among government, industry, academia, research and investors to enhance Hong Kong's global competitiveness and deliver more convenient, efficient and reliable public services.
The IMD ranking, which replaced the previous World Digital Competitiveness Ranking, incorporates more AI-related indicators to assess whether economies can create sustained economic and social value through developing or adopting digital and AI technologies. It is based on five factors — 'governance', 'technology and infrastructure', 'efficiency', 'labour development' and 'values' — each comprising three sub-factors for a total of 15 sub-factors and 88 indicators. IMD also provided retrospective rankings for 2022–2025, during which Hong Kong's position ranged between 9th and 16th.