The 2016 edition of the Elcano Global Presence Index ranks 90 countries according to the extent to which they are currently ‘out there’, participating in and shaping the process of globalization. In addition to the incorporation of 10 new countries (Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kenya, Myanmar, Tanzania, Turkmenistan, Uruguay and Uzbekistan) and adjusting the weighting given to each variable (according to the international experts’ criteria resulting from a survey conducted in 2015), this year’s edition highlights the following results:

  • China jumps to second position while Europe stagnates.
  • The collapse of commodities prices affects the emerging economies.
  • The added value of global presence of all 90 countries for which this index is calculated barely grows in 2015, which could indicate the stagnation of the globalization process.
  • After years of increasingly disperse global presence, we are now seeing a re-concentration of external projection.
  • The results of a survey conducted in 2015 shows the extent to which foreign policy specialists have changed their worldview. The world now looks ‘harder’ than it did in 2012.

Also available: Informe Elcano de Presencia Global 2016 (Spanish version).