World's Top Competitive Countries

World's Top Competitive Countries
Top Ten Most Efficient Nations in Global Economy

The World Economic Forum (WEF) reveals the countries best-suited for business development and economic growth. Why are Canada and the U.S. slipping in the trade race?
For the past 27 years the WEF has published a formal report that ranks countries with the most competitive global economic statures.

Canada slipped from 13th last year in 2005 to 16th place in 2006. WEF's partner institute in Canada says that Canucks are resting on their wealthy laurels rather than aggressively improving international economic competitiveness.

Tax rates and highly regulated industries are the Canadian economy's two biggest concerns, although the WEF report also pointed to bloated government bureaucracy and rigid labour regulations.

Canada has also been adversely affected by a significant slip in American global competitiveness. Number one last year, the U.S. slipped to sixth place in the latest analysis. High budget and trade deficits, government corruption, immigration rules that hurt American labour's talent pool and hurricane Katrina were the major factors behind the U.S. decline.

And The Winners Are...

As the list below for 2006 shows, Switzerland takes first place in global competitiveness up from fourth placed last year. Strong institutions, skilled management, top-notch education, technology and innovation fuel the Alpine nation's international success. Nordic countries like Finland and Sweden share these competitive advantages.


Switzerland
Finland
Sweden
Denmark
Singapore
United States
Japan
Germany
Netherlands
Britain
Although India and China have sizzling economies, their global competitiveness still has lots of room for improvement. Poor health services, education and public infrastructure and high deficits prevent many people in India (43rd place) from enjoying that country's robust growth rates. China (54th place) fell 6 places due to state-controlled banking, low technological implementation, and dismal scores on education and the environment.

Rankings are based on economic statistics, international research and an opinion survey that polled 11,000 business leaders from 125 countries. Global competitiveness rankings focus less on a country's standard of living than strict business competitiveness studies do. Including standard of living, the U.S. finishes first in business competitiveness year after year.
 
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