Geneva, Switzerland, 7 September 2011 – Switzerland tops the overall
rankings in The Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012, released
today by the World Economic Forum. Singapore overtakes Sweden for
second position. Northern and Western European countries dominate the
top 10 with Sweden (3rd), Finland (4th), Germany (6th), the
Netherlands (7th), Denmark (8th) and the United Kingdom (10th). Japan
remains the second-ranked Asian economy at 9th place, despite falling
three places since last year.
The United States continues its decline for the third year in a row,
falling one more place to fifth position. In addition to the
macroeconomic vulnerabilities that continue to build, some aspects of
the United States’ institutional environment continue to raise concern
among business leaders, particularly related to low public trust in
politicians and concerns about government inefficiency. On a more
positive note, banks and financial institutions are rebounding for the
first time since the financial crisis and are assessed as somewhat
sounder and more efficient.
Germany maintains a strong position within the Eurozone, although it
goes down one position to sixth place, while the Netherlands (7th)
improves by one position in the rankings, France drops three places to
18th, and Greece continues its downward trend to 90th.
Competitiveness-enhancing reforms will play a key role in revitalizing
growth in the region and tackling its key challenges, fiscal
consolidation and persistent unemployment.
The results show that while competitiveness in advanced economies has
stagnated over the past seven years, in many emerging markets it has
improved, placing their growth on a more stable footing and mirroring
the shift in economic activity from advanced to emerging economies.
The People’s Republic of China (26th) continues to lead the way among
large developing economies, improving by one more place and
solidifying its position among the top 30. Among the four other BRICS
economies, South Africa (50th) and Brazil (53rd) move upwards while
India (56th) and Russia (66th) experience small declines. Several
Asian economies perform strongly, with Japan (9th) and Hong Kong SAR
(11th) also in the top 20.
Download the full Global Competitiveness rankings (PDF or Excel format)
In the Middle East, Qatar (14th) solidifies its place in the top 20
while Saudi Arabia (17th) enters it for the first time, followed by
Israel (22nd), the United Arab Emirates (27th), Kuwait (34th) and
Bahrain (37th). Most Gulf States continue their upward trend of recent
years. In sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa (50th) and Mauritius (54th)
feature in the top half of the rankings, followed by second-tier best
regional performers Rwanda (70th), Botswana (80th) and Namibia (83rd).
In Latin America, Chile (31st) retains the lead and a number of
countries see their competitiveness improve, such as Panama (49th),
Brazil (53rd), Mexico (58th) and Peru (67th). Read more highlights of
the report.
“After a number of difficult years, a recovery from the economic
crisis is tentatively emerging, although it has been very unequally
distributed: much of the developing world is still seeing relatively
strong growth, despite some risk of overheating, while most advanced
economies continue to experience sluggish recovery, persistent
unemployment and financial vulnerability, with no clear horizon for
improvement,” said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the
World Economic Forum. “The complexity of today’s global economic
environment has made it more important than ever to recognize and
encourage the qualitative as well as the quantitative aspects of
growth, integrating such concepts as inclusiveness and environmental
sustainability to provide a fuller picture of what is needed and what
works.”
Xavier Sala-i-Martin, Professor of Economics, Columbia University,
USA, and co-author of the report, added: “Amid re-emerging concerns
about the global economic outlook, policy-makers must not lose sight
of long-term competitiveness fundamentals. For the recovery to be put
on a more stable footing, emerging and developing economies must
ensure that growth is based on productivity enhancements. Advanced
economies, many of which struggle with fiscal challenges and anaemic
growth, need to focus on competitiveness-enhancing measures in order
to create a virtuous cycle of growth and ensure solid economic
recovery.”
The Global Competitiveness Report’s competitiveness ranking is based
on the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), developed for the World
Economic Forum by Sala-i-Martin and introduced in 2004. The GCI
comprises 12 categories – the pillars of competitiveness – which
together provide a comprehensive picture of a country’s
competitiveness landscape. The pillars are: institutions,
infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health and primary
education, higher education and training, goods market efficiency,
labour market efficiency, financial market development, technological
readiness, market size, business sophistication and innovation.
The rankings are calculated from both publicly available data and the
Executive Opinion Survey, a comprehensive annual survey conducted by
the World Economic Forum with its network of Partner Institutes. This
year, over 14,000 business leaders were polled in a record 142
economies. The survey is designed to capture a broad range of factors
affecting an economy’s business climate.
The report contains an extensive data section with a detailed profile
for each of the 142 economies featured in the study, providing a
comprehensive summary of the overall position in the rankings, as well
as data tables with global rankings for over 110 indicators.
This year’s report also features discussions on selected regions and
topics. These include an analysis of the effects of debt crises on
competitiveness, a review of the innovation challenge for Latin
America, and competitiveness trends and prospects for sub-Saharan
Africa. In addition, the report includes a chapter describing the
World Economic Forum’s preliminary work aimed at integrating the
concept of sustainability more fully into its competitiveness work.