DHL Global Connectedness Report 2026
Steven A. Altman and Caroline R. Bastian

Data files for researchers

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Author Information
Name: Steven A. Altman
ORCID: 0009-0001-7814-4691
Institution: New York University Stern School of Business 
Email: saltman@stern.nyu.edu

Name: Caroline R. Bastian
ORCID: 0009-0008-0103-599X
Institution: New York University Stern School of Business 
Email: cbastian@stern.nyu.edu

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SHARING/ACCESS INFORMATION

Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: 
All rights reserved.

Contact authors for usage.

Date of data collection: Late 2025; analysis performed 2026-01-11 (country
level), 2026-01-29 (global trends).
Geographic location of data collection: United States-New York

Funding sources: DHL Group

For more information on the DHL Global Connectedness Report 2026, see 
https://www.dhl.com/globalconnectedness. Index methodology is described in 
Section 8 of the report, pages 91-99.

Recommended citation for this dataset: 
Altman, Steven A. and Caroline R. Bastian. DHL Global Connectedness Report
    2026. Bonn: DHL Group (2026). DOI: 10.58153/rm518-hve77

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DATA & FILE OVERVIEW

Files:  
    dhl-global-connectedness-report-2026-complete-report.pdf
    dhl-global-connectedness-global-trends-2001-2025.csv
    dhl-global-connectedness-scores-ranks-2001-2024.csv

dhl-global-connectedness-report-2026-complete-report.pdf
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This is the full report in English.


dhl-global-connectedness-world-trends-2001-2025.csv
----------------------------------------------------
This file contains the indexed global trends for 2001-2025. The global trends
are presented in the report in Section 2 (pages 13-15). The methodology is 
presented in Section 8 of the report, pages 91-99. Data sources are shown in 
Appendix A (pages 296-301). The 2025 values are projected based on available
data and forecasts at the time of the analysis (most 2025 data used is in these
calculations had not yet been released by the relevant sources). 

Number of variables: 4
Number of cases/rows: 125

Variable List:
    pillar - categorical: overall, trade, capital, information, or people; the
        index pillar of the observation
    year - integer: Year of observation
    depth_index - continuous (0-1): Depth level of pillar (0 = no flows across
        borders; 1 = frictionless hypothetical with no border or distance 
        effects)


dhl-global-connectedness-scores-ranks-2001-2024.csv
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This file contains the country scores and ranks for 2001-2024. The country
scores and ranks are presented in the report in Section 6 (pages 73-82). The
methodology is presented in Section 8 (pages 91-99). Data sources are shown in
Appendix A (pages 296-301). 

Number of variables: 10
Number of cases/rows: 17,125

Variable List: 
    pillar - categorical: overall, trade, capital, information, or people; 
        the index pillar of the observation
    iso - categorical: ISO 3166 alpha-3 code for country of observation
    country - categorical: Name of country in English
    year - integer: Year of observation
    overall_score - continuous (range 0-100): the observed score for each 
        country-year-pillar combination; geometric mean of depth and breadth 
    depth_score - continuous (range 0-100): the observed depth (intensity)
        score for each country-year-pillar combination
    breadth_score - continuous (range 0-100): the observed breadth (extensity) 
        score for each country-year-pillar combination
    overall_rank - integer: ordinal rank of observation score in the year it
        was observed
    depth_rank - integer: ordinal rank of observation depth score in the year
        it was observed
    breadth_rank - integer: ordinal rank of observation breadth score in the
        year it was observed