Global State Capacity Index

The Global State Capacity Index is a composite measure of the administrative, fiscal and regulatory capacity of national governments, built to support comparative analysis rather than to rank countries against a single ideal. It combines four weighted sub-indices — fiscal capacity, administrative capacity, regulatory capacity and rule-of-law constraint — into a 0–100 composite score, with every sub-index and its underlying indicators published alongside the topline figure. The index is used by government agencies benchmarking reform programmes, by academic researchers studying institutional change, and by international organisations assessing where technical assistance is most needed. Because composite indices compress complex institutions into a single number, the codebook documents every weighting choice and flags uneven data quality, and users are encouraged to consult the sub-indices rather than the topline score alone.