SINGAPORE, Dec 6 — Singapore’s civil service was adjudged the best in the world, topping the inaugural Blavatnik Index of Public Administration released by Oxford University.

The index, developed by the Blavatnik School of Government, evaluated the public administrations of 120 countries across four domains: strategy and leadership, public policy, national delivery, and people and processes, according to Channel News Asia.

The university said Singapore excelled in areas such as border services, tax administration, and innovation strategies and practices.

Head of Civil Service Leo Yip expressed humility at the recognition, crediting global best practices as key to Singapore’s success.

“We in the Singapore civil service have learned so much from the best practice of counterparts and public services around the world,” Yip was quoted as saying.

Norway claimed second place in the rankings, followed by Canada and Denmark in joint third, while South Korea was the next highest-ranked Asian country in 15th position.

The Blavatnik Index aims to drive improvements in public administration globally by encouraging cross-border learning and reform through its findings.

Professor Ngaire Woods, dean of the Blavatnik School of Government, called the rankings a “clarion call” for policymakers to use the data to spur meaningful reforms.

Singapore excelled particularly in the national delivery domain, which assessed functions like border services and tax administration using metrics from sources such as the World Bank and Transparency International.

The index does not measure policy outcomes like life expectancy or literacy rates, focusing instead on the effectiveness of civil services in achieving national goals.