Taiwan, South Korea, the Netherlands, Japan, and the US. These are the countries most often mentioned in the semiconductor and chip industry. Taiwan, thanks in part to the world’s leading contract manufacturer TSMC and the huge ecosystem surrounding it; the Netherlands, thanks to ASML, the monopoly supplier of machines for the most advanced chip production; and the US, thanks to Nvidia, among others. However, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has shown that the Czech Republic can also rank among the world’s leaders. The OECD, which includes the most economically developed countries on the planet, has ranked it among the main suppliers of chip manufacturing machines.
The OECD has published a study mapping the semiconductor supply chain, which is generally very extensive and interconnected due to the complexity of chip production. The Czech Republic appears in two categories in the study, both related to the supply of equipment for semiconductor production. The Czech Republic ranks among the top five to seven countries in the world.
The rankings are compiled based on a metric known as revealed comparative advantage (RCA). This is used to determine the competitive position of countries in international trade. Several indicators are taken into account, including the actual movement of goods and production capacity.
Czechia (🇨🇿) is emerging as one of the world leaders in instrumentation for semiconductor manufacturing — particularly electron microscopes. The data show that Czechia has developed a significant and growing comparative advantage in this segment over the past decade. As illustrated below, Czechia is now among the top economies globally in terms of RCA (Revealed Comparative Advantage) in manufacturing equipment inputs. This niche strength demonstrates the value of deep specialization and sustained innovation in high-tech sectors — even for smaller economies. Czechia’s trajectory highlights the importance of continuing investment in R&D, advanced manufacturing, and global partnerships across the semiconductor ecosystem.
➡️ Read more in the full OECD report: https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/mapping-the-semiconductor-value-chain_4154cdbf-en.html
Source: E15
Photo: onsemi Czechia
