The most competitive economies in the world
South Africa has climbed one position in the IMD World Competitiveness rankings, though the country remains low down on the Swiss business school’s list of global economies.
IMD’s World Competitiveness Yearbook ranked South Africa as the 52nd most competitive economy out of the 60 regions measured – up one space from 53rd in 2013.
In terms of the country’s image abroad for encouraging business development, South Africa also performs poorly, ranking 54th with a score of 3.51 out of 10.
The IMD index ranks and analyzes the ability of nations to create and maintain an environment in which enterprises can compete, assuming that wealth creation takes place primarily at enterprise level (whether private or state owned).
The university analyzed each country on Economic Performance; Government Efficiency; Business Efficiency; and Infrastructure – covering 20 sub-factors and over 300 datapoints (hard data and survey data).
“The overall competitiveness story for 2014 is one of continued success in the US, partial recovery in Europe, and struggles for some large emerging markets,” said Professor Arturo Bris, director of the IMD World Competitiveness Center.
“There is no single recipe for a country to climb the competitiveness rankings, and much depends on the local context.”
Top 10 competitive economies
| # | Country | Score |
| 1 | USA | 100.00 |
| 2 | Switzerland | 92.42 |
| 3 | Singapore | 90.97 |
| 4 | Hong Kong | 90.33 |
| 5 | Sweden | 85.83 |
| 6 | Germany | 85.78 |
| 7 | Canada | 85.43 |
| 8 | UAE | 84.89 |
| 9 | Denmark | 84.04 |
| 10 | Norway | 83.29 |
| 52 | South Africa | 48.25 |
Big emerging markets saw a slide in the rankings, due to slow economic growth and foreign investment, compounded by inadequate infrastructure.
China (23rd) fell two places, partly owing to concerns about its business environment, IMD said, while India (44th) and Brazil (54th) suffered from inefficient labor markets and ineffective business management.
South Africa was the only African economy measured by the Index.
The US retained the No. 1 spot in 2014, reflecting the resilience of its economy, better employment numbers, and its dominance in technology and infrastructure, IMD said.
“There are no big changes among the top ten. Small economies such as Switzerland (2nd), Singapore (3rd) and Hong Kong (4th) continue to prosper thanks to exports, business efficiency and innovation,” the group said.
A small recovery in the European economy saw a number of eurozone countries climb, with Denmark (9th) entering the top ten, joining Switzerland, Sweden (5th), Germany (6th) and Norway (10th).
Singapore is viewed as the top nation that encourages business development, scoring an 8.92 out 10 based on IMD’s Executive Opinion Survey which got responses from 4,300 executives across the 60 ranked economies.
Top 10 competitive image countries
| # | Country | Score |
| 1 | Singapore | 8.92 |
| 2 | Germany | 8.60 |
| 3 | Ireland | 8.58 |
| 4 | UAE | 8.58 |
| 5 | Canada | 8.57 |
| 6 | Switzerland | 8.25 |
| 7 | Chile | 8.19 |
| 8 | Sweden | 8.14 |
| 9 | Hong Kong | 8.00 |
| 10 | Qatar | 7.86 |
| 54 | South Africa | 3.51 |
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