The field of engineering is the bedrock of modern civilization, right from the industrial revolution to the information revolution. Engineering is directly responsible for technological progress, with the latter being critical to Total Factor Productivity (TFP), which, in turn, has a strong correlation of 60% with economic progress in advanced countries.
As manufacturing has primarily moved to emerging economies, with advanced economies largely being services-based, the demand for software engineers is higher in the latter. It is demonstrated by an Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) report, which shows that the pursuit of electrical engineering degrees has dropped by 90%, offset by a 90% increase in computer science graduations in the US over the past 50 years.
However, generally, interest in STEM fields is on the decline in the US. It was already low among girls, but has been declining for boys as well. According to an IET survey in 2019, young pupils’ interest in domains like design and technology, and Information and Communications Technology is down 12% and 14%, respectively.
The trend of declining interest is long-term, which is directly contributing to the shortage of engineers, with other factors being an aging workforce, the broader labor shortage and many engineers taking up managerial roles. The Bureau of Labor Statistics sees a shortage of a total of 6 million engineers in the US between 2016-2026.
Despite the problems, the US is one of the best countries when it comes to most engineering fields. It is due to a world class private education system, high-tech employment opportunities and infrastructure.
Some of the most notable companies in the US, like Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) and The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) hire engineers from diverse fields like electrical, software, aerospace and materials engineering. Further, these companies provide opportunities to work on cutting-edge technology while paying lucrative salary packages, which are higher than the market average.
For instance, according to Indeed, the median salary that Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) pays its electrical engineers is $129,000. On the other hand, the average salary that Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) pays to its engineers is 22% higher than the market average.
Lastly, The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) pays its engineers an average of $96,364 a year, which is 20% higher than the national average. Apart from Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) and The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA), other technology companies that are known to have generous packages for their engineers include Google, Microsoft and Northrop Grumman, to name a few.
Coming back to engineer-shortage, Germany is facing a similar problem, and like the US, is dealing with the problem through skilled immigration. In the past 10 years, for example, the number of skilled Indian immigrants working in the country in engineering fields has grown by 558%.
Engineering Outlook: US
According to BLS, 139,300 engineering jobs (excluding software engineering) will be added in the US during the forecast period of 2016-2026, with civil engineering jobs comprising the largest share, at 23%, owing to the ongoing overhauling of the infrastructure in the country. Civil engineering jobs are followed by mechanical, industrial and electrical engineering jobs.
Agricultural engineering jobs comprise the lowest share in the US in the projected period, with expected growth of only 200 jobs from 2016-2026. In addition, agricultural engineers’ wages are also the lowest among engineering wages, with the median annual income being $73,640.
With that said, let’s move on to 15 countries that produce the best engineers in the world.
15 Countries That Produce the Best Engineers in the World
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Our Methodology
We’ve defined ‘best countries in engineering’ as ones which have high-quality Knowledge and Technology (KT) output in the engineering fields as well as advanced and impactful research, signifying the quality of engineers.
We picked up the countries' overall rankings from the Global Innovation Index of 2021, and their rankings in H-Index for engineering papers from the Scimago Journal and Country Rank. We then calculated the averages of the countries' rankings on the two indexes and ranked them based on their average rankings in ascending order of high quality engineering.
The global innovation index measures the quality of variables like human capital, infrastructure, business sophistication, academic institution, and KT output.
The H-index metric from Scimago, on the other hand, gauges the aggregate impact of scholarly output. It lets us know which countries' engineers are leading their respective fields in research and development. An H-index of 20 means that for all academic publications by an engineer, 20 of them have been referred to by other researchers at-least 20 times.
Here are the 15 countries that produce the best engineers in the world:
15. Israel
Scimago Ranking: 21
Global Innovation Index Ranking: 15
Average Ranking: 18
Israel is widely renowned for several of the key engineering fields. It is owing to the fact that the country has a reputation for producing some of the best engineers in the world.
Israel is especially known for Simcha Blass, the inventor of ‘Drip Irrigation’, a revolutionary technology that saves irrigation water by 20-50%. Blass’s invention has led to the widespread adoption of drip irrigation technology around the world.
Among other engineering feats Israel has to its claim, are RSA encryption, laser keyboards and Nanowire. Due to the top-notch talent in the country, as well as a pro-business environment, Israel attracted 28 times more venture capital per capita than the US in 2021. Technion and Tel Aviv University are two of the most notable institutes in Israel for engineering education.
14. Finland
Scimago Ranking: 24
Global Innovation Index Ranking: 7
Average Ranking: 15.5
Finland is known for highly talented engineers. The country is particularly significant for its expertise in the fields of telecommunications, electronics, automation, and environmental technology. Some of its most prestigious universities, when it comes to engineering, are Aalto University and University of Oulu.
Finland also extensively spends on R&D. In 2020, R&D spending in Finland accounted for 2.9% of the country’s GDP. On the corporate front, Finland is known for prominent companies in technology and telecommunications like Nokia.
13. Denmark
Scimago Ranking: 20
Global Innovation Index Ranking: 9
Average Ranking: 14.5
Denmark is one of the best countries in engineering. One domain where Danish engineers are truly distinguished is renewable energy. The country has been a leader in the development of wind energy technology, and is home to several of the world's largest offshore wind farms.
Some of its top universities known for engineering disciplines include Aalborg University, Technical University of Denmark and Aarhus University.
12. Singapore
Scimago Ranking: 14
Global Innovation Index Ranking: 8
Average Ranking: 11
Singapore is considered one of the most advanced countries in engineering, owing to its world-class education system producing some of the best engineers in the world.
The country is home to world class engineering institutions like Nanyang Technological University and National University of Singapore. Its technical institutions have a reputation for churning out highly qualified engineers. In 2021, Singapore earned $32 billion from exports of information and communication technology.
11. Canada
Scimago Ranking: 5
Global Innovation Index Ranking: 16
Average Ranking: 10.5
Canada is one of the leaders when it comes to countries that produce the best civil engineers in the world. It ranks 17th out of 167 countries on the aggregate logistics performance index. The country also shines in other fields.
For instance, Canada has significant technical expertise in the aerospace industry, with companies such as Bombardier and Pratt & Whitney Canada developing advanced aircraft and engine technologies.
In terms of engineering education, the University of Toronto, University of Waterloo and the University of British Columbia are the most prominent institutes in the country.
10. Japan
Scimago Ranking: 6
Global Innovation Index Ranking: 13
Average Ranking: 9.5
Japan is one of the countries known to produce the best engineers in the world. Among its top electronics-manufacturing companies, Panasonic, Toshiba and Sony are especially worthy of mention.
Japan is a robotics superpower. As of 2022, 45% of the operational industrial robots around the world were manufactured in Japan.
China is the biggest importer of Japanese robots, with its market accounting for 36% of the latter's robotics exports. Japan’s scale of electronics-manufacturing already being one of the highest in the world, grew further by 11% in 2021
Among the most notable universities in the country, as it pertains to engineering, are University of Tokyo and Tohoku University. On the other hand, the company involved in the highest quality engineering and R&D in Japan is Sony, according to Scimago.
9. Sweden
Scimago Ranking: 17
Global Innovation Index Ranking: 2
Average Ranking: 9.5
Sweden spends significantly on research and development, with the R&D budget exceeding 3% of its GDP in 2020. Sweden has dedicated infrastructure when it comes to engineering.
Its top engineering academic institutes include Chalmers Institute of Technology, Royal Institute of Technology and Linkoping University. Some of the top companies benefiting from Sweden’s engineering talent include Spotify and Ericsson.
8. France
Scimago Ranking: 7
Global Innovation Index Ranking: 11
Average Ranking: 9
France is one of the noteworthy countries known to produce the best engineers in the world, particularly aerospace engineers. The country is home to several major aerospace companies, including Airbus and Thales, and has a long history of developing advanced aircraft and spacecraft technologies.
France is also advanced in the fields of energy and transportation. The country has made significant investments in nuclear power and has developed advanced technologies for nuclear energy production. In addition, France has developed high-speed rail technology, with its TGV trains being among the fastest in the world.
When it comes to engineering institutes, University of Paris-Saclay and Sorbonne University are two of the top universities in the country.
7. Netherlands
Scimago Ranking: 11
Global Innovation Index Ranking: 6
Average Ranking: 8.5
The Netherlands is one of the prominent countries that produce the best engineers in the world. The Netherlands shines in engineering disciplines like electrical, mechanical and software engineering.
The Dutch are particularly known for their expertise in water management and flood control, as well as their pioneering work in sustainable energy and transportation. The country is also home to a number of leading engineering firms and research institutions, including Delft University of Technology, one of the top engineering schools in the world.
In terms of high-tech companies, The Netherlands is home to ASML, a chip manufacturer considered highly important with regard to global electronics manufacturing and supply chains.
6. South Korea
Scimago Ranking: 10
Global Innovation Index Ranking: 5
Average Ranking: 7.5
South Korea is a leader in electronics, with Seoul being the best-rated city in the world, with a score of 288, for talent availability in electronics and electrical engineering. South Korea is also home to Samsung, the third largest electronics company in the world.
Samsung’s engineers are taking Moore’s law to its limits and making chips with a 3 nm fabrication process, a semiconductor technology frontier as of 2022. Samsung has further announced to mass-produce chips with a 2 nm fabrication process by 2025 and 1.4 nm process by 2027.
