Barbados has placed 2nd for competitiveness among the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries, in the recently released 29th edition of the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) 29.

Since its appearance on the index just three years ago, Barbados has gained over 40 places to reach its current position. Out of 114 countries, which also include regions such as Asia/Pacific, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa, North America and West Europe, Barbados ranked 64th overall, falling only behind the British Virgin Islands relative to countries in the LAC. The top five spots in the GFCI 29 went to New York, London, Shanghai, Hong, Kong and Singapore, which placed 1st to 5th respectively.

Barbados continues to be a resilient global financial centre that has built a reputation underpinned by transparency, stability and compliance. With more than 4,000 registered global business entities in the international business and financial services sector, the jurisdiction is one that boasts a welcoming investment climate and supports businesses of substance. This has been paramount to the country's success.

The GFCI is described as "the world's most authoritative comparison of the competitiveness of the world's leading financial centres".  For the past 13 years, the GFCI has been charting the progress of financial centres globally.

The GFCI is published bi-annually by the Z/Yen Group, the City of London's most respected think tank, in collaboration with the China Development Institute. The GFCI 29's methodology was derived from financial centre assessments, as well as instrumental factors including The World Bank, UN Development Programme, Euromonitor and Numbeo Quality of Life Index, among others. The main areas of competitiveness in ranking the global financial centres included business environment, human capital, infrastructure, financial sector development and reputation.

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