Switzerland tops WEF competitiveness index

By: Jonathan Boyd

Switzerland remains the most competitive country in the world, according to the latest annual World Economic Forum Global Competitveness Index.

The country leads Singapore and Finland. Sweden is in fourth place, having slipped behind its Nordic neighbour.

The Netherlands, Germany, US, UK, Hong Kong and Japan are also on the list of the 10 most competitive countries globally.

Of these the UK and Hong Kong advance, while Japan fell compared to their relative rankings last year.

The Index report identifies ongoing problems of competitiveness in the periphery of Europe.

Ireland ranks 27th, Spain ranks 36th, Italy 42nd, and Portugal 49th out of the 144 nations included on the full list.

The good news for Europe is that despite the ongoing divide between more competitive northern economies and less competitive southern economies, the region overall still enjoys a productivity gap against a number of emerging market countries and regions, despite the latter having enjoyed decades of "brisk growth".

"This competitiveness deficit in vast swathes of the developing world raises questions about the sustainability of growth patterns," warns the Index report.

"With six of the ten best performing countries, northern and western Europe is a competitiveness hotspot."

The overall rankings are based on scores across a range of areas, including education, levels of health, and business and political transparency.

In the area of financial services higher scores are not only reserved for Europe. For example, while Switzerland scores well for availability of financial services, so too does South Africa, Panama, Hong Kong and Singapore, alongside the UK, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Sweden and Canada in the top 10.

Hong Kong and Panama both top Luxembourg on the question of affordability of financial services, with the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany ranked much lower on this basis.

The ongoing European financial crisis and its impact on the ability of companies to get loans is also noted in the ranking of countries in which it is easiest to access loans.

Qatar, Bahrain and Singapore are the highest ranked overall, ahead of Sweden, which is the highest ranked European country. Norway, Finland and New Zealeand are the only other Western countries in the top 10.

Countries are also ranked on the soundness of their banks, and again Europe comes up short. Canada tops this list, followed by South Africa and New Zealand. Finland and Norway are the only European countries to rank in the top 10 on this question.

This section of the Index also sheds light on why creditors may be so slow to lend their support to the struggling peripheral members of the eurozone. Portugal and Italy rank jointly in 118th place on the question of legal protection of borrowers and lenders' rights.

To read the full Index report click here:
http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GlobalCompetitivenessReport_2012-13.pdf