Singapore tops LinkedIn’s 2025 AI Talent Index, as the country’s supply for AI talent is 2.45 the global average.
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With the rise of artificial intelligence, companies around the world are in a race for strong AI talent and working to upskill their workforces on the technology.
This has been top of mind for organizational leaders, as 66% of them say they wouldn’t hire someone without AI skills, and 71% say they’d rather hire someone less experienced with AI skills than a more experienced candidate who lacks those skills, according to a 2024 report by Microsoft and LinkedIn which surveyed 31,000 people across 31 countries.
In efforts to track the supply of AI talent across countries globally, LinkedIn has released its “AI talent concentration” metric, which is based on the member profile data collected from the professional networking site.
LinkedIn considers both AI engineering skills such as machine learning or natural language processing, as well as AI literacy skills such as ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot, as AI talent.
Based on 2024 data, these 10 countries have the highest concentration of AI talent compared to the global average, according to Linkedin:
- Israel (1.98%)
- Singapore (1.64%)
- Luxembourg (1.44%)
- Estonia (1.17%)
- Switzerland (1.16%)
- Finland (1.13%)
- Ireland (1.11%)
- Germany (1.09%)
- Netherlands (1.07%)
- South Korea (1.06%)
In 2024, Israel topped the list, as the country’s supply of AI talent is 1.98 times that of the global average. Singapore follows in second place, as the city-state boasts an AI talent supply that is 1.64 times of the global average, while Luxembourg is in third, showing a supply that is 1.44 times the global average.
Notably, the top six countries in 2024 remain unchanged in their rankings from the year before. Meanwhile, Ireland moved up four places to 7th in rank, and South Korea dropped three in rank to 10th place in 2024.
“Many of these countries with the highest AI talent concentration – Israel, Singapore, Luxembourg, Estonia – are relatively small in terms of population and geographical size, but they are punching above their weight in terms of developing AI talent quickly,” said Chua Pei Ying, LinkedIn’s APAC head economist.
“This may be made possible by building a thriving ecosystem where talent is nurtured – when companies are invested in their employees’ skill development, and governments create policies that encourage continuous learning,” Chua told CNBC Make It.
Notably, although India didn’t make the top 10 list for AI talent concentration in 2024, the country has seen a staggering 252% increase in this metric between 2016 and 2024, which signals professionals in the country are “actively building their AI-related skills,” according to LinkedIn.
India has also seen a 33.4% increase year-over-year in AI hiring relative to the overall hiring rate in 2024, signaling the country’s demand for AI talent. This is compared to Singapore’s 25% and the United States’ 24.7% increase.
“Singapore’s cultural emphasis on learning contributes to its competitive edge in this new era of AI,” added Chua. “Our data shows that professionals in Singapore are some of the most avid learners, spending 40% more time picking up AI skills than their counterparts across APAC.”
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