Japan and Singapore in Asia, Portugal and the Czech Republic in Europe, and Canada in the Americas are the best locations in their respective regions for industrial occupiers looking to ‘nearshore’ supply chains, according to Savills 2024 Nearshoring Index.

Savills 2024 Nearshoring Index ranks 26 countries on the factors that may be important to occupiers looking for new locations to shorten or diversify their supply chains and/or reduce their reliance on foreign imports. These factors include their resilience, economic cost (including rents, energy and labour costs), business environment and ESG performance.

The top five locations overall are Portugal, Czech Republic, Poland, Sweden and Japan, although depending on occupiers’ individual priorities, other locations further down the Index may be preferred, such as those where costs may be higher but have stronger environmental credentials and a better business environment, whilst others may perform exceptionally well but only in one pillar. 

Singapore comes in 6th place, right after Japan (5th), whilst South Korea is placed 8th in the Index. Vietnam and China are in 11th and 12th place respectively.

Savills Nearshoring Index 2024:

Traditionally, low cost hubs were the largest beneficiaries of the original wave of offshoring, as occupiers prioritised cost. With the impact of supply shocks and an increased focus on ESG performance, many are now weighing other factors in their decision-making process, although budgets are still a major driving force.

Locations that score well in the Nearshoring Index’s economic cost pillar, however, don’t tend to score as highly for resilience, business environment and ESG. The exceptions are Poland, Portugal and the Czech Republic, which provide a rare combination of being low cost, resilient, and provide occupiers with access to the European single market. South Korea serves a similar purpose in APAC and offers lower costs, even though it appears lower in the Index than other APAC countries such as Japan and Singapore. 

Charlotte Rushton, Analyst, Savills World Research, comments: “When nearshoring began to emerge, there were concerns of a wholesale global supply chain upheaval. What has occurred so far, however, is more subtle: manufacturing trends appear to show that although companies are setting up in new locations, they’re still prioritising reducing costs, therefore favouring locations such as Mexico and Vietnam. But there are exceptions: some manufacturing such as semiconductors, electric vehicles and energy, is more sensitive to geopolitics and trade policy, so occupiers here tend to prioritise higher-skilled and higher-valued production, and therefore favour locations such as Sweden, the UK and US.”

Sally Tan, Senior Managing Director and Head of Client Solutions at Savills Singapore, says, “Singapore is 2nd when compared within the top 5 APAC locations in the Nearshoring Index. Factors such as economic stability, proximity to the ASEAN markets, competitive labour costs, robust trade agreements, and having the best infrastructure in the world make Singapore an ideal destination for companies considering nearshoring as part of their global strategy.” 

Alan Cheong, Executive Director, Research & Consultancy, Savills Singapore comments, “Singapore’s efficient port services, supporting logistics and transparent business costs, all combine to support its high ranking in our nearshoring index. With continued geopolitical uncertainties impacting global economic supply chains, Singapore’s advantage of being geographically positioned at the cross roads of major shipping routes will also put it in good stead to maintain her high rankings in the foreseeable future.”

For further information about Savills 2024 nearshoring index contact Sally Tan Senior Managing Director and Head of Client Solutions at Savills Singapore or Alan Cheong Executive Director, Research & Consultancy, Savills Singapore, via the below contact details.