The US is the top location worldwide for aerospace manufacturing, with a sizeable lead over its next-nearest competitor, China – but China shows a potent mix of cost and quality, according to fDi’s first-ever Aerospace Manufacturing Investment Competitiveness Index.
Top ranking countries
The top tier of the ranking includes a mix of well-established locations, such as the US, UK and Germany alongside the newly established emerging economy powerhouses of China and India.
Advertisement
Among the low-cost destinations, both the Ukraine and Jordan appeared in the top three, keeping the more obvious cost-competitive locales of India and Vietnam at bay.
The overall top five locations featured in the index included the US, China, India, the UK and Germany in that order – which is yet another example of the increasing equality in north-south investment potential.
Assessment criteria
The index, produced by fDi Benchmark, is based on an assessment of 120 cost and quality competitiveness indicators across 61 countries.
The indicators cover labour costs, utility costs, labour activity and quality, general business environment, presence of an industrial cluster, infrastructure and accessibility, and the living environment for a typical 250-headcount aerospace manufacturing plant.