One of nine capability dimensions
Building
How capable is the country of turning plans and knowledge into functioning systems?
This page puts the country comparison, indicator registry and documented cases together. It shows how much of the capability the current data can see.
52 countries in the frame8 indicators in the registry5 indicators with data52 countries with a score
<iframe src="https://ncb-envisioning.vercel.app/embed/compare/BRA/building" title="Building country comparison" loading="lazy" width="100%" height="300" style="border:0" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin"></iframe>All countries use the same frame
The table opens alphabetically. Sort by score, confidence, coverage or trend. Scores need two observed indicators; trends use indicators observed at both ends.
Scores use one 0 to 100 scale for all countries. Each dot is a country. The box covers the middle half of the field, and the line is the median. Hollow dots have thin evidence.
| Argentina | 26.6 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | -3.2(4) |
| Australia | 36.1 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | +1.3(4) |
| Bolivia | 29.7 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | +2.8(4) |
| Brazil | 25.3 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | -1.3(4) |
| Canada | 32.8 | 0.52 | 5 of 8 | -0.4(4) |
| Chile | 30.5 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | -0.2(4) |
| China | 64.9 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | -1.9(4) |
| Colombia | 24.4 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | -1.9(4) |
| Costa Rica | 38.0 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | +4.8(4) |
| Cuba | 21.8 | 0.22 | 2 of 8 | -27.1(2) |
| Dominican Republic | 28.3 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | +1.8(4) |
| Ecuador | 27.0 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | -0.6(4) |
| El Salvador | 25.8 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | -2.4(4) |
| Estonia | 30.8 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | -2.9(4) |
| Ethiopia | 15.5 | 0.53 | 5 of 8 | -2.3(4) |
| Finland | 39.2 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | -0.9(4) |
| France | 53.1 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | -5.0(4) |
| Germany | 64.4 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | -1.6(4) |
| Guatemala | 28.9 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | -0.5(4) |
| Haiti | 34.4 | 0.43 | 4 of 8 | +3.6(3) |
| Honduras | 28.7 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | -0.9(4) |
| India | 39.0 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | +4.9(4) |
| Indonesia | 38.7 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | +0.2(4) |
| Ireland | 75.3 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | +18.1(4) |
| Israel | 38.8 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | +6.8(4) |
| Japan | 50.2 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | -2.1(4) |
| Kenya | 17.5 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | -3.1(4) |
| Malaysia | 59.6 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | +5.3(4) |
| Mexico | 37.7 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | +0.1(4) |
| Netherlands | 45.2 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | +0.3(4) |
| Nicaragua | 24.4 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | -1.1(4) |
| Nigeria | 16.8 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | -0.5(4) |
| Panama | 27.5 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | +0.6(4) |
| Paraguay | 32.0 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | +1.8(4) |
| Peru | 26.0 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | -0.4(4) |
| Philippines | 49.6 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | -3.2(3) |
| Poland | 35.4 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | +2.9(4) |
| Rwanda | 25.3 | 0.52 | 5 of 8 | -2.2(4) |
| Singapore | 71.2 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | +7.7(4) |
| South Africa | 23.7 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | -1.1(4) |
| South Korea | 63.1 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | +3.1(4) |
| Spain | 36.0 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | +1.4(4) |
| Sweden | 41.5 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | -0.5(4) |
| Switzerland | 58.1 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | +2.6(4) |
| Thailand | 48.2 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | 0.0(4) |
| Turkey | 41.3 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | +4.0(4) |
| United Arab Emirates | 38.1 | 0.53 | 5 of 8 | +2.7(4) |
| United Kingdom | 46.7 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | +0.7(4) |
| United States | 58.4 | 0.52 | 5 of 8 | +2.4(4) |
| Uruguay | 30.7 | 0.54 | 5 of 8 | -0.7(4) |
| Venezuela | 0.0 | 0.20 | 3 of 8 | no trend |
| Vietnam | 54.2 | 0.53 | 5 of 8 | +8.6(4) |
0 to 100 is a position inside the frame every country builds together. Zero is the weakest on a dimension and 100 is the strongest. A score of 10 puts a country near the floor of that frame. It does not mean 10 percent of a capability.
Building indicators
8 indicators define this capability. Gaps and retired rows remain because they lower confidence. Click a heading to sort.
- Cdirect capability measure Measures the thing itself.
- Icapability input Measures something that supports the capability.
- Odownstream outcome Measures a result that usually follows from the capability.
- Pperception proxy Records what people or experts say, not what they did.
Building
| Note | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Economic fitness | O | index | higher is better | World Bank | 0.45 | World Bank Economic Fitness, a diversity-and-ubiquity measure of the export basket built on the same idea as economic complexity. Method is published, inputs are UN Comtrade. |
| Electricity connection speed | C | score 0-100 | higher is better | World Bank | 0.25 | Small-scale infrastructure delivery, measured end to end. The World Bank publishes only the rescaled score, not the raw days. Frozen at 2019. |
| Firm scale-up rateno dataset | C | % of firms | higher is better | OECD DynEmp | 0.40 | OECD business dynamics work covers members irregularly. Nothing comparable for India, Brazil or South Africa. |
| O | % of manufactured exports | higher is better | World Bank | 0.40 | Sophistication of what gets built. Assembly-heavy economies score high without owning the design. | |
| Large project deliveryno dataset | C | % overrun | lower is better | none | 0.20 | The single best measure of execution capability and there is no comparable international dataset. Assembling one is a defensible Envisioning project. Building mixes industrial output with state delivery capacity, and this indicator carries the delivery side: the other six indicators cannot see a national programme that was delivered. Documented deliveries are recorded in data/evidence and never scored, see D20. |
| Logistics infrastructure qualityretired | P | index 1-5 | higher is better | World Bank | 0.50 | Retired 2026-08-26. An LPI sub-index, so the same freight-forwarder survey as logistics performance and the same problem. Electricity connection speed stays as the observable infrastructure measure in this dimension. See D23. |
| Manufacturing value added | O | % of GDP | higher is better | World Bank | 0.20 | Evidence that the country still makes physical things at scale. Penalises service-heavy high-capability economies such as the Netherlands. |
| Output per worker | O | constant 2021 PPP $ | higher is better | World Bank | 0.90 | The most wealth-contaminated indicator in the registry. Kept deliberately so the GDP-sensitivity test has something to bite on. |
Documented deliveries add context to the data
These records describe a country doing something this capability should capture. They stay outside the score because one case is not a comparable series.
Evidence for missing indicators
Each record describes a case the indicators above cannot see. It does not affect the score or confidence because one case is not comparable across countries. A gap can become an indicator when a comparable series covers at least two countries.
Pix instant payment systemlinked to Large project delivery, started 2020, still operating
Brazil's central bank specified, built and ran a mandatory instant payment rail that settled 7.98 billion transactions in July 2026, for 152 million people and 14 million firms transacting in that month.
7,975,213,950 transactions, pix transactions settled in the month, 2026-07. Banco Central do Brasil, Pix statistics API, retrieved 2026-08-26.
How it worked: The central bank wrote the standard, mandated participation for every institution above a size threshold, ran the settlement infrastructure itself and set the price to zero for individuals.
Limits: Transaction volume shows adoption of one payment rail. It says nothing about cost or schedule performance on a capital project, which is what this indicator asks for. Pix was specified and enforced by a single institution with regulatory power over the participants, so it is weak evidence about delivery that needs several agencies to hold position.
GOV.BR federal identity and service platformlinked to Large project delivery, started 2019, still operating
Brazil consolidated federal public services behind one identity platform, reporting 175 million active accounts and 5,179 digital services in May 2026.
175,000,000 accounts, active gov.br accounts, 2026-05. Governo Digital, Ministry of Management and Innovation in Public Services, retrieved 2026-08-26.
How it worked: One identity provider for every federal service, with assurance levels tied to records the state already held, and a rule that services migrate to it rather than build their own login.
Limits: An account count measures registration and a service count measures listing. Neither shows whether a service completes, how long it takes, or what it costs to run. Both numbers are published by the programme about itself, with no external audit attached.
X-Road national data exchange layerlinked to Large project delivery, started 2001, still operating
Estonia has run one data exchange layer for the whole state since 2001, and in July 2026 it carried 374.9 million queries between 1,000 connected organizations, 251 of them government bodies, across 3,785 services.
374,921,341 queries, x-road queries in the month, 2026-07. Estonian Information System Authority, X-tee factsheet, retrieved 2026-08-26.
How it worked: A distributed exchange layer between agency systems, with a legal once-only rule: an agency may not ask a citizen for data another agency already holds.
Limits: Query volume measures use of a layer that grew over 25 years. That is evidence of sustained operation and not of bringing one large project in on cost and on schedule, which is what this indicator asks for. The factsheet is published by the authority that operates the system.
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana bank accountslinked to Large project delivery, started 2014, still operating
India opened 590.9 million basic bank accounts through existing banks from 2014, holding 3.17 lakh crore rupees in deposits as of 19 August 2026.
590,900,000 accounts, accounts opened under the scheme, 2026-08-19. Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, India, retrieved 2026-08-26.
How it worked: Existing banks were given a national target and a stripped-down account product, and the identity system removed the documentation barrier that had excluded people.
Limits: An account count measures opening. Part of the stock is dormant or holds very little, and the release carries no external audit. Reaching 590 million people through banks that already existed is a different problem from delivering a physical project on a schedule.
Electricity supply rebuilt on renewable sourceslinked to Large project delivery, started 2010, still operating
Uruguay rebuilt its electricity supply between 2010 and 2017 through public tenders and long-term contracts, and in 2025 fossil fuels produced 293 GWh of the 15,855 GWh generated, so 98.2 percent came from hydro, wind, biomass and solar.
98.2 % of generation, renewable share of electricity generation, 2025. Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining, national energy balance, retrieved 2026-08-26.
How it worked: Long-term power purchase agreements at fixed prices, awarded by competitive auction, with the state utility as a single creditworthy buyer carrying the offtake risk.
Limits: The share is computed from the published generation series by source and is not itself a published headline figure. A generation mix is an outcome, and it hides the cost and schedule record of the projects behind it. A wet or dry year moves the hydro share by several points, so one year is not the programme.
Plan Ceibal, one connected laptop per childlinked to Large project delivery, started 2007, still operating
Uruguay gave a connected laptop to every child in public primary school from 2007, the first country to do it nationally, and the household survey found a Ceibal computer in the homes of 35.8 percent of the population in 2018.
35.8 % of people, people with a plan ceibal computer in the household, 2018. Ministry of Social Development, from the national household survey, retrieved 2026-08-26.
How it worked: A dedicated agency outside the education ministry procured devices and connectivity at national scale and used schools as the distribution channel.
Limits: Household reach peaked at 40.1 percent in 2014 and the series stops in 2018, so this number says nothing about the programme now. A device in the home measures distribution and says nothing about learning. The record is here because the delivery is documented and the measure of it is weak.
Sistema Unico de Saude, universal public health systemlinked to Large project delivery, started 1988, still operating
Brazil wrote a right to health into the 1988 constitution and built a single public system that covers everybody in the country, and the WHO service coverage index for Brazil rose from 71 in 2000 to 84 in 2023.
84 index 0-100, uhc service coverage index, 2023. World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory, retrieved 2026-08-26.
How it worked: A right to health written into the constitution, funded by earmarked federal transfers and delivered by municipalities under national rules.
Limits: A service coverage index counts whether services reach people. It says nothing about waiting times, quality, or the difference between a capital city and the interior, and it credits private provision alongside the public system. Brazil spends less per head on public health than most countries with a comparable index, which this number cannot show.
Programa Nacional de Imunizacoes, and its erosionlinked to Large project delivery, started 1973, operating below its peak
Brazil's national immunisation programme reached 99 percent DPT coverage in 2003 and held above 95 percent for a decade, then fell to 68 percent by 2021 and had recovered to 91 percent by 2024.
91 % of children, dpt immunisation coverage, children aged 12-23 months, 2024. 99 % of children, dpt immunisation coverage at its 2003 peak, 2003. World Bank, from WHO and UNICEF estimates, retrieved 2026-08-26.
How it worked: Free universal vaccination delivered through the primary care network, with national campaign days that made coverage a visible public event.
Limits: This record is here because it runs both ways. A delivery capability that reached the whole country lost a third of its coverage in five years and has not fully recovered, which is evidence about durability rather than about peak performance. Coverage is administratively reported, DPT is one antigen among many, and the fall has several causes that the series cannot separate.
Luz para Todos, rural electrificationlinked to Large project delivery, started 2003, delivered and closed
Brazil connected the last rural households to electricity through a national programme run with the state and private distributors, taking access from 94.4 percent of the population in 2000 to 99.8 percent in 2024.
99.8 % of population, access to electricity, 2024. World Bank, from national and utility sources, retrieved 2026-08-26.
How it worked: The federal government paid the connection cost and delivered through the existing distribution concessionaires, with connection targets written into their contracts.
Limits: Access counts a connection. It says nothing about how often the power fails, what it costs, or the isolated Amazon communities that make up most of the remaining gap. Access was already rising before 2003, so the programme accelerated a trend rather than starting one.
Bolsa Familia and the single registry behind itlinked to Large project delivery, started 2003, still operating
Brazil built one national registry of low-income households and paid conditional transfers through it, going from 6.6 million benefits in December 2004 to a peak of 21.0 million in 2022 and 18.6 million in December 2025.
18,618,236 benefits, benefits paid in december, 2025. Ministry of Social Development, via IPEADATA, retrieved 2026-08-26.
How it worked: One registry of low-income households shared across every social programme, with payments made directly to a card held by the mother, conditional on school attendance and health checks.
Limits: A benefit count is administrative and says nothing about whether the transfers reduced poverty. The programme was renamed and restructured twice between 2021 and 2023, so the series covers more than one design. The capability worth copying is the registry and the targeting, and neither has a number in this record.
Fully electronic national electionslinked to Large project delivery, started 1996, still operating
Brazil has run every election on electronic voting machines since 2000, across an electorate that reached 155.9 million voters in 2024, with results published the same evening.
155,908,437 voters, registered electorate, 2024. Superior Electoral Court, via IPEADATA, retrieved 2026-08-26.
How it worked: One election authority owns the machines, the software and the count, with public audit ceremonies and results published the same evening.
Limits: The electorate measures the scale of the operation and not the speed or the integrity of the count. The Superior Electoral Court publishes result timing and audit results separately and neither is in this number. Electronic voting has been contested politically in Brazil despite repeated public audits, which is a fact about trust rather than about delivery.
Deepwater and pre-salt oil productionlinked to Large project delivery, started 1997, still operating
Brazil developed deepwater extraction, found the pre-salt fields in 2006 and produced them at depths of more than 5,000 metres, with national oil production rising from 71,844 thousand cubic metres in 2000 to 219,032 in 2025.
219,032.409 thousand cubic metres, oil production, 2025. National Petroleum Agency, via IPEADATA, retrieved 2026-08-26.
How it worked: A state oil company sustained deepwater research for decades, and licensing rules concentrated the learning from each field in one operator.
Limits: Production is an outcome shared between Petrobras and foreign operators, and several individual platforms ran years late and over budget, which is exactly the cost and schedule record this indicator asks for and which this number hides. Expanding oil output also sits against Brazil's climate commitments, and a production figure cannot weigh that.
Seguro Popular, and its abolitionlinked to Large project delivery, started 2003, dismantled
Mexico built public health insurance for people outside social security from 2003 and abolished it in 2020, and CONEVAL measured the share of the population without access to health services rising from 16.2 percent in 2018 to 39.1 percent in 2022.
39.1 % of population, population lacking access to health services after abolition, 2022. 16.2 % of population, population lacking access to health services before abolition, 2018. CONEVAL, comunicado no. 7, medicion multidimensional de la pobreza 2022, retrieved 2026-08-27.
How it worked: The abolition is the mechanism recorded here: a new government replaced a funded, enrolment-based entitlement with a budget-line service that required no affiliation, and affiliation-based coverage disappeared faster than the replacement could deliver care.
Limits: The metric measures the dismantling, not the programme: CONEVAL's deprivation number is self-reported affiliation, not care received, and Seguro Popular at its peak was itself criticised for shallow coverage and uneven state-level spending. The 2018-2022 change spans the pandemic, which stressed every health system, so not all of the 23-point rise is the reform. CONEVAL itself lost autonomy in a later reorganisation, so the continuity of this series is not assured.
Sure Start children's centres, and their erosionlinked to Large project delivery, started 1998, operating below its peak
England built a national network of early-childhood centres reaching 3,632 sites by August 2009, then closed or hollowed out a large part of it after funding was cut, with the official count at 3,123 by October 2017 and independent estimates near 1,000 closures.
3,123 centres, children's centres open, official count, 2017-10. 3,632 centres, children's centres open at the peak, 2009-08. The Sutton Trust, Stop Start report summary, retrieved 2026-08-27.
How it worked: Central government funded local one-stop centres for under-fives, ring-fenced the money, and targeted the most deprived areas first; when the ring-fence was removed in 2010, local authorities under cuts converted, merged or closed centres faster than any national decision was ever taken.
Limits: A site count is the crudest measure of the service: many surviving centres kept the building and lost the staff, which is why the Sutton Trust's estimate of real closures is roughly double the official fall shown here. The count stops in 2017 and later parliamentary answers show further decline. The record shows the erosion of delivered infrastructure under budget cuts, not the effect on children; the IFS separately measured lasting health benefits from the programme at its peak, which is what makes the erosion a loss rather than housekeeping.
Grid power, and load sheddinglinked to Large project delivery, started 1994, operating below its peak
South Africa ran one of the world's cheapest reliable grids and extended it to most of the population after 1994, then under-invested and lost the surplus, reaching 335 days of load shedding in 2023 before recovering to 83 days in 2024.
335 days, days with load shedding in the worst year, 2023. 83 days, days with load shedding after the partial recovery, 2024. CSIR, utility-scale power generation statistics in South Africa 2024, retrieved 2026-08-27.
How it worked: The erosion is the mechanism recorded here: a state monopoly was told to electrify without being allowed to charge for or build ahead of demand, new-build decisions were delayed for a decade, and the two giant plants finally ordered were too large for the delivery capability that remained.
Limits: The day counts are read from the annual chart in the CSIR report rather than a stated table, and a day with any load shedding counts the same as a day of stage six, so the unit understates severity differences. The 2024 recovery also leans on private rooftop solar that households bought in self-defence, which the report itself notes, so the improvement is not all Eskom's. What the record shows is a delivered capability, generation adequacy, lost over roughly fifteen years of deferred maintenance and failed new build, with Medupi and Kusile late and over budget.
Measles elimination, and its erosionlinked to Large project delivery, started 2000, operating below its peak
The United States eliminated endemic measles transmission by 2000 through school-entry vaccination requirements, and falling coverage brought 2,777 confirmed cases by August 2026, the most since 1991, against 285 in all of 2024.
2,777 cases, confirmed measles cases in 2026, to 20 august, 2026-08. 285 cases, confirmed measles cases in the last pre-outbreak year, 2024. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, measles cases and outbreaks, retrieved 2026-08-27.
How it worked: The erosion is the mechanism recorded here: vaccination requirements are enforced at school entry by states, so a delivery that took federal purchasing and decades of practice is being undone state by state through widening exemption rules and falling trust, with no single decision anywhere.
Limits: A case count is the lagging end of the erosion; the leading end is kindergarten vaccination coverage, which CDC reports separately as falling from about 95 percent before the pandemic to under 93 percent, below the outbreak-prevention threshold. The 2026 number is a year in progress and will rise. Elimination status is a WHO-defined property of transmission chains, not of case counts, and had not been formally revoked at retrieval; what the record documents is a maintained public-health achievement being lost while the infrastructure that delivered it still exists.
BNDES, the national development banklinked to Large project delivery, started 1952, still operating
Founded in 1952, Brazil's federal development bank provides long-term financing and investment across the national economy, and it disbursed R$169.7 billion in 2025.
169.7 R$ billions, bndes disbursements, 2025. BNDES, Agência de Notícias, retrieved 2026-08-29.
How it worked: The federal development bank converts public capital and long-term finance into patient support for firms and infrastructure projects that commercial lenders may not carry through their formation period.
Limits: Disbursement volume measures the bank's activity, not whether the projects it finances arrive on time, within budget or with durable public value. The source is the institution reporting on itself, and the number mixes market-rate lending with policy-directed finance.
Casa da Moeda do Brasil, the national mintlinked to Large project delivery, started 1694, still operating
Founded in 1694, Brazil's national mint has remained a public institution through colonial, imperial and republican regimes and now produces currency, identity documents and passports after more than 330 years of operation.
330 years, reported institutional history, 2026. Casa da Moeda do Brasil, history of the CMB, retrieved 2026-08-29.
How it worked: A permanent public production institution carries the state's credential infrastructure across political and monetary transitions, preserving practical capability while its outputs change with the regime around it.
Limits: Institutional survival and the ability to produce state credentials show continuity, not the cost, quality or strategic value of every product made by the mint. The institution also changed its technologies and functions over time, so continuity does not mean an unchanged organisation.
Read how the benchmark turns an indicator into a score on the method page. The limits page records where this capability is still poorly observed.