The International Institute for Management Development’s World Competitiveness Center (WCC) releases its most competitive countries list every year. According to the 2022 edition, “It provides benchmarking and trends, as well as statistics and survey data based on extensive research. It analyzes and ranks countries according to how they manage their competencies to achieve long-term value creation.”
The yardsticks measure data from 63 economies. The rankings are based on 333 factors. Among other things, this includes feedback from companies, educational institutions and government agencies.
Denmark topped the list. Professor Arturo Bris, director of the WCC, commented: “Denmark has played extremely aggressively on the sustainability front and benefits from being a small country in the European market.” It did well in such categories as business legislation, “societal” framework, productivity and management practices. Other factors were life expectancy at birth and universal health coverage.
The United States ranked 10th in the survey.
Here are the 50 most competitive countries in the world:
| 2022 Rank | Country | 2021 Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denmark | 3 |
| 2 | Switzerland | 1 |
| 3 | Singapore | 5 |
| 4 | Sweden | 2 |
| 5 | Hong Kong SAR | 7 |
| 6 | Netherlands | 4 |
| 7 | Taiwan, China | 8 |
| 8 | Finland | 11 |
| 9 | Norway | 6 |
| 10 | USA | 10 |
| 11 | Ireland | 13 |
| 12 | UAE | 9 |
| 13 | Luxembourg | 12 |
| 14 | Canada | 14 |
| 15 | Germany | 15 |
| 16 | Iceland | 21 |
| 17 | China | 16 |
| 18 | Qatar | 17 |
| 19 | Australia | 22 |
| 20 | Austria | 19 |
| 21 | Belgium | 24 |
| 22 | Estonia | 26 |
| 23 | United Kingdom | 18 |
| 24 | Saudi Arabia | 32 |
| 25 | Israel | 27 |
| 26 | Czech Republic | 34 |
| 27 | Korea Rep. | 23 |
| 28 | France | 29 |
| 29 | Lithuania | 30 |
| 30 | Bahrain | new |
| 31 | New Zealand | 20 |
| 32 | Malaysia | 25 |
| 33 | Thailand | 28 |
| 34 | Japan | 31 |
| 35 | Latvia | 38 |
| 36 | Spain | 39 |
| 37 | India | 43 |
| 38 | Slovenia | 40 |
| 39 | Hungary | 42 |
| 40 | Cyprus | 33 |
| 41 | Italy | 41 |
| 42 | Portugal | 36 |
| 43 | Kazakhstan | 35 |
| 44 | Indonesia | 37 |
| 45 | Chile | 44 |
| 46 | Croatia | 59 |
| 47 | Greece | 46 |
| 48 | Philippines | 52 |
| 49 | Slovak Republic | 50 |
| 50 | Poland | 47 |
Click here to see which are the richest countries in the world.
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