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The Philippines fell two ranks to 59th place out of 180 economies in the latest Global Connectedness Report by DHL and New York University’s Stern School of Business
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The country declined in rank for 2024 from 57th in 2019
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Its index score dropped to 51.9 out of 100 in 2024 from 52.3 in 2019
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The Philippines’ rank in terms of depth, trade pillar, and people pillar fell, but it grew ranks in breadth and information pillar
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The latest GCR said globalization remains at a historically high level despite escalating geopolitical tensions, rising U.S. tariffs, and unprecedented uncertainty about future trade policies
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The world’s level of globalization was 25% in 2025, in line with the record high set in 2022
The Philippines fell two ranks to 59th place out of 180 economies in the latest Global Connectedness Report (GCR) by DHL and New York University’s Stern School of Business.
The country declined in rank for 2024 from 57th in 2019 with its index score dropping to 51.9 out of 100 in 2024 from 52.3 out of 100 in 2019, according to the GCR 2026, the 11th edition of the regular report.
The Philippines was among 95 economies that saw their connectedness scores decline over the period from 2019 to 2024, while 85 countries became more globally connected.
It must be noted that the report underwent changes in methodology starting in 2022, thus, “trend analysis should be done comparing results over time within a single edition of the index, not comparing results between separately published editions.”
READ: PH falls to 65th place in DHL Global Connectedness Report
The report analyzes the state and trajectory of globalization by measuring the depth and breadth of international flows of trade, capital, information, and people around the world.
The 2026 GCR edition is based on more than nine million data points and ranks the connectedness of 180 countries, accounting for 99.6% of global gross domestic product and 99% of the world’s population.
In terms of depth (international flows relative to domestic activity), the Philippines saw a drop in 2024 to 134th place from 126th in 2019, as the score fell to 41.3 from 41.5.
The country had the highest rank in breadth (geographic distribution of international flows across countries) at 27th place in 2024, one rank better from 28th in 2019, even when its score slightly fell to 62.6 from 62.8.
On the trade pillar, the country fell to 59th place from 56th as the score dropped to 52.8 from 53.3.
For the capital pillar, the Philippines remained at 47th place out of 158 countries even though the score slipped slightly to 50.7 from 51.
The country improved to 50th place out of 144 countries from 54th in the information pillar, even as the score remained at 50.4.
On the contrary, even though the score remained at 52.3 for the people pillar, its rank fell from 57th to 54th out of 133 countries.
The US remained the top country in terms of its share (19%) of the Philippines’ international flows. It was followed by China (12%), Japan (7%), Singapore (5%), Australia (4%), South Korea (4%), Canada (4%), Hong Kong (4%), India (4%), and Malaysia (3%).
In turn, the Philippines was one of the top 10 countries in terms of shares in international flows of the following countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Macau, Samoa, and Timor Leste.
Singapore leads
Among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Singapore maintains its spot as the most globally connected country.
Malaysia ranked 16th, followed by Thailand (27th), Vietnam (36th), Cambodia (73rd), Brunei (69th), Laos (109th), Indonesia (112th), Timor Leste (139th), and Myanmar (160th).
Overall, Singapore was the world’s most globally connected country in 2024, followed by Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Ireland, Switzerland, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, Belgium, the United Kingdom, and Denmark.
The latest GCR said globalization remains at a historically high level despite escalating geopolitical tensions, rising U.S. tariffs, and unprecedented uncertainty about future trade policies.
The report tracks globalization on a scale from 0% (or nothing crosses national borders at all) to 100% (or “frictionless” where borders and distance have no impact).
The world’s level of globalization was 25% in 2025, in line with the record high set in 2022. At the same time, this rate underlines how far the world is from being fully globalized and that in many areas, international flows could expand further in the absence of policy constraints.
Global trade also grew faster in 2025 than in any year since 2017, excluding the volatile COVID-19 pandemic period.
Looking ahead, recent U.S. tariff increases are expected to modestly slow trade growth in 2026 – but not stop it, according to the report. Global goods trade is projected to expand by an average of 2.6% per year through 2029, in line with the past decade.
It noted that one reason trade can keep growing despite U.S. tariff hikes is that most trade does not involve the U.S. In 2025, 13% of imports went to the U.S., and 9% of exports came from the U.S. In addition, many countries are pursuing new trade agreements to secure access to alternative markets.—Roumina Pablo
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