Switzerland on the podium of global competitiveness
(05.07.2023) In international comparison, the Swiss economy has slightly declined compared to the previous year. The country has moved from second to third place in the "World Competitiveness Ranking" published by the IMD business school in Lausanne and is now behind Denmark and Ireland.
Since 1989, the Lausanne-based institute has been measuring the competitiveness of several dozen economies worldwide each year. In 2023, about 64 countries and administrative entities were evaluated based on four main criteria: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure.
Denmark remains at the top of the ranking. In 2022, the Scandinavian country benefited from the strength of foreign investments and excellent business efficiency to take the first place from Switzerland. Absent from the top ten last year, Ireland managed to climb 9 ranks to finish in 2nd position. The island nation notably stood out for its economic performance (1st), efficiency of its government efficiency (3rd), and business efficiency (3rd).
Although relegated to the 3rd place in the overall ranking, Switzerland still maintains a solid competitiveness. It even remains in the 1st position globally in terms of "government efficiency" and "infrastructure." However, its overall result has been undermined by mixed economic performances (18th).
In this ranking dominated by prosperous states in Western Europe and East Asia, Singapore and the Netherlands complete the top five most competitive economies in the world, closely followed by Taiwan and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Conversely, Venezuela, Argentina, Mongolia, South Africa, and Brazil would be the least competitive economies among the 64 evaluated.