World Design Ranking 2016
The World Design Rankings (WDR) is a ranking which classifies countries based on the number of their designers who received the A’ Design Award. The A’ Design Award and Competition, which sponsors this ranking, started in 2010 with the aim of promoting talented designers and good designs from all over the world. The ranking itself seeks to show up the design potentials and leading arts in different countries, in addition to pointing out their strengths and weaknesses.
The world design rankings map for 2016
The WDR is built on a system of points which depends on the type of the award, where the platinum award counts as 6 points, the golden award counts as 5, the silver award counts as 4, the bronze award counts as 3, and the Iron A’ award counts as 2. In 2016’s rankings, the United States kept its place on top of the list with a credit of 369 awards, followed by Turkey who also maintained its runner-up position. China surpassed Honk Kong and Italy to get third place, followed by the other two successively, while Taiwan, UK, Japan, Brazil, and Germany occupied the rest of the top 10 ranks in that order.
Current Aggregated World Design Rankings: Years 2010 – 2016
| Rank | Country | Awards | Score |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Average | |
| 1 |  |
United States of America | 396 | 1451 | 26 | 78 | 114 | 93 | 85 | 3.66 |
| 2 |  |
Turkey | 297 | 1031 | 11 | 50 | 85 | 73 | 78 | 3.47 |
| 3 |  |
China | 266 | 1017 | 18 | 59 | 89 | 58 | 42 | 3.82 |
| 4 |  |
Hong Kong | 242 | 870 | 12 | 41 | 77 | 61 | 51 | 3.60 |
| 5 |  |
Italy | 202 | 719 | 11 | 36 | 59 | 45 | 51 | 3.56 |
| 6 |  |
Taiwan | 195 | 701 | 6 | 23 | 76 | 66 | 24 | 3.59 |
| 7 |  |
Great Britain | 148 | 563 | 12 | 30 | 52 | 25 | 29 | 3.80 |
| 8 |  |
Japan | 131 | 553 | 21 | 35 | 40 | 22 | 13 | 4.22 |
| 9 |  |
Brazil | 102 | 380 | 7 | 22 | 30 | 22 | 21 | 3.73 |
| 10 |  |
Germany | 101 | 361 | 5 | 15 | 37 | 20 | 24 | 3.57 |
| 11 |  |
Iran | 82 | 280 | – | 9 | 35 | 19 | 19 | 3.41 |
| 12 |  |
Republic of Korea | 81 | 278 | 4 | 12 | 23 | 18 | 24 | 3.43 |
| 13 |  |
Greece | 78 | 276 | 2 | 11 | 29 | 21 | 15 | 3.54 |
| 14 |  |
Singapore | 71 | 230 | 4 | 4 | 21 | 18 | 24 | 3.24 |
| 15 |  |
Russian Federation | 69 | 238 | 3 | 11 | 20 | 15 | 20 | 3.45 |
| 16 |  |
India | 66 | 195 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 19 | 29 | 2.95 |
| 17 |  |
Portugal | 65 | 252 | 8 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 11 | 3.88 |
| 18 |  |
Spain | 64 | 228 | 5 | 10 | 18 | 14 | 17 | 3.56 |
| 19 |  |
Canada | 58 | 209 | 3 | 11 | 17 | 14 | 13 | 3.60 |
| 20 |  |
Mexico | 57 | 193 | 2 | 7 | 19 | 12 | 17 | 3.39 |
| 21 |  |
Australia | 55 | 204 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 3.71 |
| 22 |  |
France | 48 | 172 | 1 | 13 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 3.58 |
| 23 |  |
Belgium | 46 | 168 | 2 | 6 | 19 | 12 | 7 | 3.65 |
| 24 |  |
Lithuania | 35 | 129 | – | 7 | 16 | 6 | 6 | 3.69 |
| 25 |  |
Switzerland | 32 | 112 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 3.50 |
| 26 |  |
Lebanon | 29 | 107 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 3.69 |
| 27 |  |
Poland | 28 | 107 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 3.82 |
| 28 |  |
Netherlands | 27 | 107 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 3.96 |
| 29 |  |
Ukraine | 27 | 94 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 3.48 |
| 30 |  |
Kuwait | 26 | 99 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 3.81 |
| 31 |  |
Hungary | 23 | 71 | – | 2 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 3.09 |
| 32 |  |
Czech Republic | 23 | 75 | – | 2 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 3.26 |
| 33 |  |
Finland | 21 | 77 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 3.67 |
| 34 |  |
Bulgaria | 21 | 81 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 3.86 |
| 35 |  |
Egypt | 21 | 66 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 3.14 |
| 36 |  |
Croatia | 19 | 58 | – | 1 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 3.05 |
| 37 |  |
Malaysia | 19 | 64 | 1 | – | 9 | 4 | 5 | 3.37 |
| 38 |  |
Denmark | 18 | 61 | – | 3 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 3.39 |
| 39 |  |
Uruguay | 18 | 65 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 3.61 |
| 40 |  |
Israel | 18 | 61 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 3.39 |
| 41 |  |
Romania | 17 | 62 | – | 4 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3.65 |
| 42 |  |
Jordan | 15 | 53 | – | 3 | 7 | – | 5 | 3.53 |
| 43 |  |
United Arab Emirates | 15 | 52 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3.47 |
| 44 |  |
Philippines | 14 | 49 | – | 2 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 3.50 |
| 45 |  |
Slovenia | 13 | 55 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 2 | – | 4.23 |
| 46 |  |
Austria | 13 | 49 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3.77 |
| 47 |  |
Thailand | 13 | 49 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 3.77 |
| 48 |  |
Moldova | 13 | 55 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4.23 |
| 49 |  |
New Zealand | 12 | 38 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3.17 |
| 50 |  |
Sweden | 11 | 48 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4.36 |
| 51 |  |
South Africa | 11 | 45 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 | – | 4.09 |
| 52 |  |
Argentina | 11 | 36 | – | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3.27 |
| 53 |  |
Latvia | 10 | 37 | – | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3.70 |
| 54 |  |
Serbia | 9 | 33 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3.67 |
| 55 |  |
Ireland | 9 | 33 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3.67 |
| 56 |  |
Saudi Arabia | 8 | 18 | – | – | – | 2 | 6 | 2.25 |
| 57 |  |
Viet Nam | 7 | 22 | 1 | – | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3.14 |
| 58 |  |
Guatemala | 7 | 29 | – | 2 | 4 | 1 | – | 4.14 |
| 59 |  |
Indonesia | 6 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | – | 4.00 |
| 60 |  |
Norway | 6 | 20 | – | 2 | – | 2 | 2 | 3.33 |
| 61 |  |
Slovakia | 5 | 15 | – | – | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3.00 |
| 62 |  |
Kyrgyzstan | 5 | 25 | 1 | 3 | 1 | – | – | 5.00 |
| 63 |  |
Cyprus | 5 | 12 | – | – | 1 | – | 4 | 2.40 |
| 64 |  |
Peru | 4 | 14 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3.50 |
| 65 |  |
Estonia | 4 | 14 | – | – | 2 | 2 | – | 3.50 |
| 66 |  |
Venezuela | 3 | 10 | – | – | 2 | – | 1 | 3.33 |
| 67 |  |
Iceland | 3 | 7 | – | – | – | 1 | 2 | 2.33 |
| 68 |  |
Faroe Islands | 2 | 7 | – | – | 1 | 1 | – | 3.50 |
| 69 |  |
Kazakhstan | 2 | 5 | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 2.50 |
| 70 |  |
Puerto Rico | 2 | 5 | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 2.50 |
| 71 |  |
Sri Lanka | 2 | 7 | – | – | 1 | 1 | – | 3.50 |
| 72 |  |
Palestine | 2 | 4 | – | – | – | – | 2 | 2.00 |
| 73 |  |
Colombia | 2 | 4 | – | – | – | – | 2 | 2.00 |
| 74 |  |
Pakistan | 2 | 4 | – | – | – | – | 2 | 2.00 |
| 75 |  |
Bangladesh | 2 | 11 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | 5.50 |
| 76 |  |
Georgia | 2 | 5 | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 2.50 |
| 77 |  |
Azerbaijan | 2 | 7 | – | – | 1 | 1 | – | 3.50 |
| 78 |  |
Chile | 1 | 5 | – | 1 | – | – | – | 5.00 |
| 79 |  |
Macedonia | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 2.00 |
| 80 |  |
Belarus | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 2.00 |
| 81 |  |
Oman | 1 | 3 | – | – | – | 1 | – | 3.00 |
| 82 |  |
Albania | 1 | 5 | – | 1 | – | – | – | 5.00 |
| 83 |  |
Swaziland | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 2.00 |
| 84 |  |
Qatar | 1 | 5 | – | 1 | – | – | – | 5.00 |
| 85 |  |
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea | 1 | 3 | – | – | – | 1 | – | 3.00 |
| 86 |  |
Montenegro | 1 | 4 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 4.00 |
| 87 |  |
Malta | 1 | 4 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 4.00 |
| 88 |  |
Liechtenstein | 1 | 3 | – | – | – | 1 | – | 3.00 |
Further information available on worlddesignrankings.com
On the website of the WDR, you will find the Current Aggregated World Design Ranking which covers the years from 2010 to 2016 and includes 88 countries. When you click on any country, you will find a ranking list of its top designers, and if you click on the name of any of these designers, their profile page will open. The profile page contains background data and contact info of the designer, making it easier for the media and industry leaders to find and reach them.
While the World Design Ranking is country based, the DAC-Design Classification is category based. The Design fields are ranked in this classification according to competitiveness and difficulty. Inside each field, you will find a list of its top designers, from all over the world, ranked based on the number of A’ Design Awards they were granted; and just like with WDR, you can find the profile page and contact info of these designers if you click on their names.
Finally, if you are not interested in a particular category or country, you can find an overall ranking of top designers, artists, and architects, altogether, on the Designer Rankings website. The Ranking list displays the name, workplace, and number of A’ awards per each designer, in addition to a link to their profile pages.
All these rankings contribute to the publicity of the A’ Design Awardees by advertising their products and linking them to the world. It also takes globalization in its best forms to the fields of design and creative industries. You, as well, can be part of the movement, by applying for the A’ Design Award on their website with your most outstanding projects.
