The article identifies the key conceptual foundations for the formation of intellectual leadership of economic entities, including countries as specific actors in the global economy. Thorough preconditions for increasing the level of economic development and the impact of education have been identified. It is determined that historical concepts and modern realities of economic activity only actualize the role of education and enlightenment in the economic development of the national economy and ensuring its competitiveness. The strategies of increasing the competitiveness of individual countries of the world are analyzed, their key priorities in the conditions of formation of the knowledge economy are determined. The evolution of views on the role of human and intellectual capital in increasing the welfare of countries, the impact on GDP and other macroeconomic indicators is described. The ratings of countries are analyzed, in particular by the level of investment in intellectual capital and the structure of their GDP, which confirms the dominance of science-intensive economic activities. In addition, it was determined that the leading countries are characterized by increasing the role of knowledge-intensive activities, increasing the share of intangible assets, redistribution of capital of leading international companies and increasing research spending, increasing investment in human and intellectual capital, increasing exports of high-tech products. Analytical assessment confirms the advanced development of science-intensive industries in countries with developed economies, which creates the need for training and retraining of specialists needed for such industries. In modern conditions, the educational process ceases to be predominantly the prerogative of young people, and becomes a lifelong process, which increases spending on education in developed countries, but without denying the significant asymmetries on this indicator. Research confirms the direct relationship between the quality of human and physical capital and economic development, which is typical of highly developed countries, one of the main reasons for the development lag of the poorest countries. In addition, the article substantiates the key factors of intellectual leadership and their impact on the development of economic development strategies.
