Reference Datasets Overview

The absolute-value figures that sit alongside the competitiveness scores.

What are the reference datasets?

The reference datasets are absolute-value datasets published alongside the competitiveness scores. An "absolute value" is an actual figure — a dollar cost or an index level — rather than a normalized score on the 0–100 scale used to rank competitiveness. These datasets provide the concrete numbers that sit behind the competitive picture, giving the magnitudes needed for real cost work.

Which four datasets are included?

The report includes four reference datasets: Plant Construction Cost Indexes (the IC Indexes), Plant Location Factors, Labor Costs & Productivity, and Industrial Utility Costs. Each dataset is documented on its own dedicated page, where its sources, coverage, and units are described in full. Together they span the principal cost components of commodity manufacturing across the countries the report covers. Each supplies the concrete magnitudes a particular kind of cost work needs — escalating an estimate over time, converting it from one country to another, costing labor at effective productivity, or pricing utilities for a manufacturing-cost model. Built largely from modeled inputs rather than lagged trade statistics, the figures stay current, and selected series also carry six-month forecasts for forward-looking work.

Four reference datasets support cost work — construction cost indexes to escalate over time, location factors to convert across countries, labor costs and productivity, and industrial utility costs.

Why are they expressed in absolute values?

A competitiveness score communicates relative position — how one location ranks against others. An absolute figure communicates actual magnitude, which is what cost estimating, escalation, and modeling require. The two are complementary: the scores show where a location stands, while the reference datasets supply the underlying numbers used in calculation.

Why do they carry no four-month lag?

The reference datasets are built largely from modeled cost inputs rather than from lagged official trade statistics. Because of this, they remain current rather than trailing the reporting period, and selected series also include six-month forecasts. This keeps the figures usable for forward-looking cost work.

When is a reference dataset used?

A reference dataset is used whenever concrete cost estimation or benchmarking is required — for example, escalating a capital cost estimate over time, adjusting a cost estimate from one country to another, or pricing utilities for a manufacturing-cost model. In short, the competitiveness scores answer "how competitive?", while the reference datasets answer "what is the actual cost?".