What IMD published
IMD published the 2026 World Digital and AI Ranking.
The preface is dated November 2026.
The ranking covers 70 economies.
It replaces the center’s World Digital Competitiveness Ranking.
IMD says it rebuilt the measure around artificial intelligence.
The question is how ready an economy is to use AI, govern it, and keep public trust.
The report uses 88 criteria.
Fifty-one are statistics.
Thirty-seven come from a survey of senior business leaders.
The criteria sit in five factors.
Those factors are governance, technology and infrastructure, efficiency, workforce development, and values.
Where the Philippines placed
The Philippines ranks 53rd.
Its index score is 66.51.
The United States is first, and its score is set at 100.
IMD’s table marks a rise of three places from the previous year.
The Philippines profile lists 56th for 2025 and 53rd for 2026.
IMD rebuilt the ranking for 2026, and it still prints this as a three-place rise from 2025.
On 11 November 2026, BusinessWorld reported the same 53rd place and the same three-place rise.
How the five factors scored
A lower rank number is a better place.
Efficiency is the strongest of the five factors, at 44th.
Technology and infrastructure is 56th.
Values is also 56th.
Governance is 57th.
Workforce development is 58th.
From 2025 to 2026, efficiency moved from 50th to 44th.
Workforce development moved from 62nd to 58th.
Values moved from 59th to 56th.
Governance moved from 56th to 57th.
Technology and infrastructure moved from 55th to 56th.
The overall rise does not mean every factor rose.
The smaller measures
IMD splits each factor into smaller measures.
Practices, under efficiency, ranks 34th.
Capital and AI investment ranks 39th.
Digital and AI governance ranks 52nd.
AI readiness ranks 54th.
Education and training ranks 61st.
Research infrastructure ranks 61st.
Public leadership ranks 62nd.
Cybersecurity and AI ethics ranks 64th.
That 64th place is the weakest of the measures named here.
Neighbors on the same list
BusinessWorld described the Philippines as among the lowest-placed in Asia-Pacific.
The report does not print a separate Asia-Pacific table.
On the full list of 70, these economies rank ahead of the Philippines.
- Singapore is 2nd. Malaysia is 27th. Vietnam is 37th.
- Thailand is 43rd. India is 46th. Indonesia is 47th.
- China is 7th. The Republic of Korea is 10th. Japan is 19th.
- Mongolia is 67th, so the Philippines is not last of the 70.
A news figure that does not match the profile
BusinessWorld wrote that technology and infrastructure ranked 66th.
The Philippines profile lists that factor at 56th for 2026.
On the same page, 66 is the workforce rank for 2024.
The other four factor ranks in that article match the profile.
Read the 2026 column in the report before you repeat the 66.
What the number does not say
The report says the scores are indices made for its charts.
A score of 66.51 is not a percent of people using AI.
The three-place change is the comparison IMD prints with 2025.
It is not a Philippine law, a school grade, or a hiring score.
It does not open or close a course, a grant, or a job.
Why it matters in the Philippines
A school can ask what AI training it actually offers.
Education and training is 61st, and AI readiness is 54th.
A public office can ask who answers for AI rules.
Public leadership is 62nd, and digital and AI governance is 52nd.
A firm can set capital and AI investment, at 39th, next to research infrastructure, at 61st.
The preface is signed by Arturo Bris, director of IMD’s World Competitiveness Center.
It says a country has to turn technology into productive use, with the institutions and social conditions that let that use last.
What to check next
- Open the Philippines profile in the IMD report and read the 2026 column.
- If a news article prints a factor rank, set it beside that column before you repeat it.
- Pick the one weak measure that matches your school, office, or shop, and ask what is being done.
- Do not treat 53rd as a verdict on one student, one worker, or one company.
Put this into practice
A rank in a news article is easy to mix up with the table it came from. These guides show how to keep each source’s number separate, and how to check a claim in the original report.
Sources & further reading
Source note. The linked sources support the news in this article. The explanations and suggested next steps are from Pinoy AI Works.
