Canada has fallen off the top 10 list of the most competitive countries in the world and is now at number 12 out of 63 countries, the IMD World Competitiveness Center ranking reports.
According to the global assets report outlining Canada’s competitiveness trends, this is the lowest ranking Canada has had in five years. Canada’s weakest area was economic performance – specifically international trade – where the country ranks 49th. Canada has also fallen in terms of infrastructure and government efficiency. While the country did go up one rank in business efficiency, it sits at 11th place, just shy of the top ten.
For a second year in a row, Hong Kong took the top spot for the most competitive country in the world. Switzerland came second, while Singapore holds the third spot.
The United States fell to fourth – its lowest position in five years. The Netherlands made a jump from eighth to fifth to round out the top five.
Countries at the bottom of the ranking include Ukraine (60), Brazil (61) and Venezuela (63). IMD World Competitiveness Center director Arturo Bris says this is because of “issues at the root of poor government efficiency which diminishes their place in the rankings.”
This year, the IMD Competitiveness Center also featured a separate a Digital Competitiveness Ranking report that “measures countries’ ability to adopt and explore digital technologies leading to transformation in government practices, business models and society in general,” according to their press release.
The list was created by the IMD business school more than two decades ago in Switzerland and uses hard data like national employment and trade statistics to determine ranking.
