OTHER ASIAN ECONOMIES
This year’s rankings also saw strong performances by other Asian economies, with Hong Kong, Taiwan and China all moving up the ladder.
Hong Kong rose from third to second, a result IMD said was built on three consecutive years of improvement.
“Government efficiency remains its defining competitive strength, keeping second place for the second consecutive year,” said the organisation.
Taiwan came in fourth, behind Switzerland, on the back of a strong gross domestic product and export growth. These reflect improvements or stability in all four competitive factors, said IMD.
IMD also attributed China’s climb from 16th to 12th to a sharp improvement in business efficiency, which was helped by gains in productivity and efficiency, finance and the labour market.
“Government efficiency also edged up, rising one place on stronger business legislation and tax policies,” it added. Its economic performance meanwhile fell two places to seventh, led by a decline in international trade.