India slips to 45th spot in IMD's competitiveness list

Hong Kong was ranked first in the list with China improving to 18th position

India has been ranked 45th, down four notches from last year, in terms of competitiveness in the annual rankings compiled by the International Institute for Management Development's (IMD)  which saw Hong Kong topping the list.

The US was “pushed out” of the top three slots while Hong Kong consolidated its dominance of the annual rankings for the second year in the list compiled by the IMD World Competitiveness Center.

Switzerland and Singapore were ranked second and third respectively, with the US at the fourth spot — its lowest position in five years and down from third last year. The Netherlands completed the top five, jumping up from eighth last year. Others in the top 10 list are Ireland at 6th, Denmark 7th, Luxembourg (8th), Sweden (9th) and the UAE at 10th. As India slid, China improved its position by seven places to 18th, thanks to its dedication to international trade. “If you look at China, its improvement of seven places to 18th can be traced to its dedication to international trade.

This continues to drive the economy and the improvement in government and business efficiency,” Arturo Bris, director of the IMD World Competitiveness Center, said. The bottom of the table, meanwhile, is largely occupied by countries experiencing political and economic upheaval. Ukraine was ranked 60th, while Brazil was placed at the 61st position and Venezuela at 63rd.

The IMD World Competitiveness Center is a research group at the IMD business school in Switzerland. It has been publishing the rankings every year since 1989. This year’s list comprises 63 countries with Cyprus and Saudi Arabia making their first appearance. Meanwhile, for the first time this year, the IMD World Competitiveness Center also published a separate report ranking countries' digital competitiveness.

At the top of the digital ranking is Singapore, followed by Sweden, the US, Finland and Denmark, while the bottom five are Indonesia, Ukraine, Mongolia, Peru and Venezuela.

Rankings

• Hong Kong topped  the world competitiveness  list
• Switzerland and Singapore were ranked second and third respectively, with the US at the fourth spot
• The Netherlands completed the top five, jumping up from eighth last year
• China improved its position by seven places to 18th
• Others in the top 10 list are Ireland at 6th, Denmark at 7th, Luxembourg at 8th, Sweden at 9th and the UAE at 10th