Every few years the World Bank reviews logistics performance of 160 countries. The review allows competitive comparison to be made between all the countries and highlight their strong and weak areas. Progress can be made by all countries following the review, and certain areas of improvement can be targeted.
The review considers the following points as a way of scoring each country:
- Customs – Efficiency of the clearance process (i.e. speed, simplicity and predictability of formalities) by border control agencies, including customs,
- Infrastructure – Quality of trade and transport related infrastructure (e.g. ports, railroads, roads, information technology),
- International shipments – Ease of arranging competitively priced shipments,
- Logistics competence – Competence and quality of logistics services (e.g. transport operators, customs brokers),
- Tracking & tracing – Ability to track and trace consignments,
- Timeliness.
The World Bank is a key part of comparing countries for logistics performance. Review allows us to see the overall effectiveness of the country and analyse individual performances such as timeliness.
Overall Ranking
Rank Country
1 Germany
2 Luxembourg
3 Sweden
4 Netherlands
5 Singapore
6 Belgium
7 Austria
8 United Kingdom
9 Hong Kong
10 United States
Analysis of Logistics Performance
For the second time in a row Germany has been ranked number one for its overall performance. Germany scored rank 2, 1, 8, 1, 3 and 2 for the sub-indicators (customs, infrastructure, international shipments, logistics competence, tracking & tracing and timeliness) respectively.
Notably, India has climbed 19 places since the last review to reach rank 35. Good logistics performance boosts productivity nationally and allows India to compete as part of the global supply chain.
Interestingly, north western Europe dominates the top 10, with 7 countries in the list although, this accounts for a relatively low population compared with India or China.
