Sri Lanka has been ranked at 82nd place while Pakistan and India are in 111th and 92nd places respectively by the Global Talent Competitive Index in the latest report, in which 118 countries are ranked.

Bangladesh was at 113th spot in the index.

Among other aspects, the Global Talent Competitive Index also covered social mobility with the question asked was: To what extent do individuals in your country have the opportunity to improve their economic situation through their personal efforts regardless of the socioeconomic status of their parents?

It seems that the Pakistanis aren’t very confident of a bright economic future due to lack of opportunities generating a pessimistic view, as Pakistan is ranked 101 in this respect against a 56th placed India. The ranking of other South Asian countries in this category is Bangladesh 87, Bhutan 33 and Sri Lanka 28.

The report shows that India's ranking is worst among the five BRICS countries. While China was ranked at the 54th place, Russian Federation was placed at 56th, followed by South Africa at 67th and Brazil 81st.

Switzerland topped the overall index, followed by Singapore and the United Kingdom in second and third places respectively, in the list.

Others in the top 10 include the United States (4th), Sweden (5th), Australia (6th), Luxembourg (7th), Denmark (8th), Finland (9th) and Norway (10th).

The report noted that the BRICS countries are not getting stronger and both China and India have slipped from their previous rankings.

"Although China attains an impressive 4th place in the sub-pillar of Talent Impact and is solid in the Grow pillar ­­ mainly supported by good formal education (23rd) and lifelong learning (20th), the shortage of vocational and technical skills shows up clearly," the report said.

While India stood on a relatively solid pool of global knowledge skills compared with other emerging markets, the country is not able to retain and attract talent. In terms of retaining and attracting talent, India was ranked at a lowly 104th and 114th, respectively.

"This is not likely to improve until India boosts performance in its regulatory (94th) and market (99th) landscapes," the report said.

It further said that overall, a challenge for countries such as China and India is to attract talent from abroad, particularly in the context of large emigration rates of high-skilled people.

India has been able to create a stable pool of global knowledge skills, but it has suffered in the 'Retain' pillar (104th).

"Although Diasporas have been engaged successfully in some industries, a great deal of talent continues to leave the country, and thus India still experiences a brain drain," the report added.

Meanwhile, the index also released the first-ever global ranking of cities on the basis of their reputation and growing footprint in attracting, growing, and retaining global talent. Mumbai was the only Indian city that has made it to this coveted list topped by Copenhagen. The other top five cities are: Zurich, Helsinki, San Francisco and Gothenburg.

(With inputs from The News International)