Singapore defies geopolitics to retain no. 1 global connectivity spot

DHL Global Connectedness Report 2026 confirms that it maintains its top-tier ranking.

Singapore continues to lead in global connectedness despite ongoing geopolitical tensions that threaten to cause a divide amongst countries.

“The biggest threat to a country in Singapore's position is the current geopolitical situation. Whilst we have separation between the US and China, we don't have a broad split of countries lined up and separating between these two,” Steven Altman, director at New York University Stern’s DHL Initiative on Globalisation, told Singapore Business Review in an interview.

According to the DHL Global Connectedness Report 2026 by DHL Group and New York University Stern School of Business, Singapore retained the top spot out of 180 economies in terms of connectivity.

Altman, who is also a senior research scholar at New York University Stern School of Business, noted that Singapore excels the most on the depth dimension, which is how much of a country's flows happen across borders versus how much happens within the domestic economy.

“Singapore is the country with the largest international flows relative to domestic activity, and we measure that across four categories of flows: trade flows, capital flows, information flows and people flows,” he said.

“Singapore really excels across the board, particularly in that depth dimension of globalisation,” he added.

This performance is bolstered by structural factors like geographic location and economic sophistication, but Altman credited Singapore’s long-term strategy for its resilience.

“Singapore started off with a very favourable set of structural characteristics for globalisation, and then built and executed over time a set of policies that really helped to achieve that potential,” the expert said.

However, Altman warned that the tensions between the two economic superpowers pose the biggest challenge.

“If we were to see more of that kind of a split, it would really pull against Singapore as a country that is really deeply connected to countries that have very different geopolitical orientations,” he said.

Reports indicate that US President Donald Trump is planning to delay his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping by "a month or so," stating it is vital for him to remain available to oversee the war with Iran.

Despite these risks, Altman remains optimistic, noting that economic logic still outweighs political rhetoric in global supply chains.

“That creates more opportunities for trade between distant countries. And so far, we continue to see that pattern of there are more opportunities for long-distance trade, stretching trade out over longer distances,” he said.

“It doesn't mean that geopolitics doesn't matter. It just means that the economics continue to drive trade more than the geopolitics do,” he added.