The WEF created the index using a variety of objective and subjective measures.
Each country's score, from 1 to 7, is based on factors including secondary education enrollment rate and tertiary education enrollment rate - which means the number of people who studied either at university or an equivalent, such as a nursing college.
The score is also based on answers provided by business leaders from each country, to five questions including the following:
In your country, how well does the education system meet the needs of a competitive economy?
And:
In your country, to what extent do companies invest in training and employee development?
The lowest possible score is 1, and the highest is 7.
European countries dominate the list, even though it is a non-European country that tops it.
In particular, Scandivian countries feature heavily, partly because public expenditure in the region is generally very high.
Here is a look at the full list.