Singapore remains the world's third most competitive economy, overtaken by Sweden, which moves up to the second spot from fourth place last year.
Switzerland remains No 1 in the Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011, released today by the World Economic Forum.
The big loser is America, dropping to fourth position after already ceding the top place to Switzerland last year. The report says, "There has been a weakening of the United States’ public and private institutions" and notes "lingering concerns about the state of its financial markets".
The report says Singapore ranks
- First for lack of corruption and for government efficiency
- First for the efficiency of its goods and labour markets
- Second for its financial market sophistication
- Fifth for infrastructure.
Singapore's competitiveness is "buttressed by a strong focus on education, providing individuals with the skills needed for a rapidly changing global economy," says the report.
However, Singapore could "encourage even stronger adoption of the latest technologies as well as policies that enhance the sophistication of its companies", it adds.
Singapore scores lower for innovation, market sophistication, and technological readiness than for health and education, infrastructure, institutions, and efficiency in goods and labour markets. You can see the full report on the World Economic Forum website.
Inflation is the most problematic factor for doing business in Singapore, the survey shows. The least problem? Government instability and coups!
Here's the list of other countries in the top with their last year's positions in brackets:
- Germany 5th (7th)
- Japan 6th (8th)
- The Netherlands 8th (10th)
- Denmark 9th (5th)
- Canada 10th (9th).
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