The Global Competitiveness Report 2007 – 2008

The United States tops the overall ranking in The Global Competitiveness Report 2007-2008. Switzerland is in second position followed by Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Finland and Singapore, respectively.

The rankings are calculated from both publicly available data and the Executive Opinion Survey, a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum together with its network of Partner Institutes (leading research institutes and business organizations) in the countries covered by the Report. This year, over 11,000 business leaders were polled in a record 131 countries.

The Global Competitiveness Report series has evolved over the last three decades into the world’s most comprehensive and respected assessment of countries’ competitiveness, offering invaluable insights into the policies, institutions, and factors driving productivity and, thus, enabling sustained economic growth and long-term prosperity.

Produced in collaboration with leading academics and a global network of research institutes, The Global Competitiveness Report provides users with a comprehensive dataset on a broad array of competitiveness indicators for a large number of industrialized and developing economies. This year’s edition features a record 131 economies, accounting for more than 98 percent of the world’s GDP.

Besides hard data from leading international sources, these indicators include the results of the Executive Opinion Survey carried out by the World Economic Forum annually. The Survey captures the perceptions of several thousand business leaders across the countries covered on topics related to national competitiveness.

The Global Competitiveness Report includes the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index, developed by Professor Xavier Sala-i-Martin, at Columbia University; the Business Competitiveness Index, developed by Professor Michael E. Porter, Director of the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness at Harvard Business School as well as detailed profiles for each of the 131 economies covered and data tables displaying relative rankings for more than 100 variables.

GCR Country Profile Highlights 2007/2008

• The United States is assessed this year as the world’s most competitive economy; endowed with a combination of sophisticated and innovative companies operating in very efficient factor markets. This is buttressed by an excellent university system and strong collaboration between the educational and business sectors in research and development.

• Switzerland remains among the best performers in the Global Competitiveness Index, at second position overall. The country is characterized by an excellent capacity for innovation and a very sophisticated business culture. Endowed with top-notch scientific research institutions and high spending on research and development as well as strong collaboration between the academic and business sectors ensures that much of its basic research is translated into useful products and processes on the market, buttressed by strong intellectual property protection.

• The Nordic countries continue to hold privileged positions in the rankings. Denmark ranks third, with Sweden and Finland following closely at fourth and sixth places, respectively. In a number of areas the Nordics outperform the United States and Switzerland such as the best marks worldwide for their macroeconomic environments.

• Russia ranks 58th this year. Despite the country’s large market size and improving macroeconomic management, Russia’s main weaknesses are found in its institutional environment and business standards.

• Within Latin America and the Caribbean, Chile ranks 26th, assessed as the most competitive economy in the region. Macroeconomic stability has been instrumental in freeing up resources that have been invested in areas such as upgrading infrastructure, improving the educational system. The liberalization process is also a strength resulting in a well-functioning factor markets. Chile also boasts one of the most developed and sophisticated financial markets.

• Brazil ranks 72nd. The country has made notable improvements in recent years towards sounder public finances, with reduced levels of public indebtedness. Brazil has a number of important competitive advantages, such as the large size of the domestic market, its relative prowess in absorbing and adapting technology from abroad and leveraging ICT and, especially, its degree of business sophistication and capacity to generate endogenous innovation. However, the overall debt level remains high by international standards, contributing to a low national savings rate and high interest rates.

• Within Asia and the Pacific, the highest ranked country is Singapore, at seventh place. Singapore draws its greatest competitive advantages from the efficiency of its goods, labour and financial markets where in each pillar it ranks among the top three in the world.

• China ranks 34th. The country draws its key competitive advantage from its significant domestic and foreign market size allowing the country’s companies to benefit from significant economies of scale. Macroeconomic stability is another source of strength, with manageable government debt, high national savings and low inflation, although the government has started to run budget deficits. China’s competitive performance reveals, however, the need to address weaknesses particularly in three areas: financial markets, higher education and training, and the quality of public and private institutions.

• India, at 48th place, also derives substantial advantage from its market size, where it ranks third in domestic market size and fourth in foreign market size; as well as gaining competitive advantage from the sophistication of its businesses and its innovative potential.
• In the Middle East and North Africa, Israel, at 17th, continues to lead the region in competitiveness. Israel’s strong showing is boosted by a large number of competitive advantages. These include its first-class educational system, which has provided the country with a large pool of high skilled labour and with top-notch research institutions.

• As in other oil-exporting countries in the region, the macroeconomic environment in Kuwait, ranked 30th, has markedly improved in the past few years. The country is presently assessed as second to none out of all countries with respect to macroeconomic stability, reflecting a large budget surplus, low debt and growing national savings. Kuwait also boasts efficient financial infrastructure with easy access to a wide range of financial services, including loans, equity markets and venture capital.

• Within sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa, ranks 44th overall. The country receives strong marks for its property rights, corporate ethics and goods, as well as financial market efficiency, business sophistication and innovation. South Africa’s scientific research institutions are assessed on a par with Hong Kong’s, and the country has a higher rate of patenting than a number of European countries. These combined strengths explain South Africa’s position at the top of the regional ranking. However, South Africa does face a number of obstacles to competitiveness in terms of labour market flexibility and a low university enrolment rate of only 15%. Finally, lack of security remains an obstacle to doing business in South Africa.

Global Competitiveness Index 2007-2008

Country/Economy	Rank	Score
United States	1	5.67
Switzerland	2	5.62
Denmark	3	5.55
Sweden	4	5.54
Germany	5	5.51
Finland	6	5.49
Singapore	7	5.45
Japan	8	5.43
United Kingdom	9	5.41
Netherlands	10	5.40
Korea, Rep.	11	5.40
Hong Kong SAR	12	5.37
Canada	13	5.34
Taiwan, China	14	5.25
Austria	15	5.23
Norway	16	5.20
Israel	17	5.20
France	18	5.18
Australia	19	5.17
Belgium	20	5.10
Malaysia	21	5.10
Ireland	22	5.03
Iceland	23	5.02
New Zealand	24	4.98
Luxembourg	25	4.88
Chile	26	4.77
Estonia	27	4.74
Thailand	28	4.70
Spain	29	4.66
Kuwait	30	4.66
Qatar	31	4.63
Tunisia	32	4.59
Czech Republic	33	4.58
China	34	4.57
Saudi Arabia	35	4.55
Puerto Rico	36	4.50
United Arab Emirates	37	4.50
Lithuania	38	4.49
Slovenia	39	4.48
Portugal	40	4.48
Slovak Republic	41	4.45
Oman	42	4.43
Bahrain	43	4.42
South Africa	44	4.42
Latvia	45	4.41
Italy	46	4.36
Hungary	47	4.35
India	48	4.33
Jordan	49	4.32
Barbados	50	4.32
Poland	51	4.28
Mexico	52	4.26
Turkey	53	4.25
Indonesia	54	4.24
Cyprus	55	4.23
Malta	56	4.21
Croatia	57	4.20
Russian Federation	58	4.19
Panama	59	4.18
Mauritius	60	4.16
Kazakhstan	61	4.14
Uzbekistan	62	4.13
Costa Rica	63	4.11
Morocco	64	4.08
Greece	65	4.08
Azerbaijan	66	4.07
El Salvador	67	4.05
Vietnam	68	4.04
Colombia	69	4.04
Sri Lanka	70	3.99
Philippines	71	3.99
Brazil	72	3.99
Ukraine	73	3.98
Romania	74	3.97
Uruguay	75	3.97
Botswana	76	3.96
Egypt	77	3.96
Jamaica	78	3.95
Bulgaria	79	3.93
Syria	80	3.91
Algeria	81	3.91
Montenegro	82	3.91
Honduras	83	3.89
Trinidad and Tobago	84	3.88
Argentina	85	3.87
Peru	86	3.87
Guatemala	87	3.86
Libya	88	3.85
Namibia	89	3.85
Georgia	90	3.83
Serbia	91	3.78
Pakistan	92	3.77
Armenia	93	3.76
Macedonia, FYR	94	3.73
Nigeria	95	3.69
Dominican Republic	96	3.65
Moldova	97	3.64
Venezuela	98	3.63
Kenya	99	3.61
Senegal	100	3.61
Mongolia	101	3.60
Gambia, The	102	3.59
Ecuador	103	3.57
Tanzania	104	3.56
Bolivia	105	3.55
Bosnia and Herzegovina	106	3.55
Bangladesh	107	3.55
Benin	108	3.49
Albania	109	3.48
Cambodia	110	3.48
Nicaragua	111	3.45
Burkina Faso	112	3.43
Suriname	113	3.40
Nepal	114	3.38
Mali	115	3.37
Cameroon	116	3.37
Tajikistan	117	3.37
Madagascar	118	3.36
Kyrgyz Republic	119	3.34
Uganda	120	3.33
Paraguay	121	3.30
Zambia	122	3.29
Ethiopia	123	3.28
Lesotho	124	3.27
Mauritania	125	3.26
Guyana	126	3.25
Timor-Leste	127	3.20
Mozambique	128	3.02
Zimbabwe	129	2.88
Burundi	130	2.84
Chad	131	2.78