Global Competitiveness Report 2015: Switzerland Tops, Croatia 77th

For the 7th year in a row Switzerland has been ranked as the world’s most competitive economy in the Global Competitiveness Report released today, whilst Croatia is ranked 77th in the world…

The report said that a failure to embrace long-term structural reforms that boost productivity and free up entrepreneurial talent is harming the global economy’s ability to improve living standards around the world.

The Global Competitiveness Report 2015-2016 assesses the competitiveness of 140 world economies. Using a mixture of quantitative and survey data, it ranks countries based on factors driving competitiveness, such as: institutions; infrastructure; macroeconomic environment; health and primary education; higher education and training; goods market efficiency; labour market efficiency; financial market development; technological readiness; market size; business sophistication; and innovation.

Croatia with an overall score of 4.1 out of 7, scored best in the Health and Primary Education pillar (5.8), and worst in the Innovation pillar (3.1). Croatia were ranked just below Brazil and Ecuador, and just above Guatemala and Ukraine.

“Our potential for improvement is significant and this gives us cause for optimism, but we lack the power to use it. We must rapidly catch up with the advanced areas if we are to significantly improve our position and ensure an increase in prosperity for our citizens. Croatia has failed to make significant progress in several key segments that make us less competitive than our potential,” said Ivica Mudrinić, head of the Croatian Employers’ Association, commenting on today’s report to Vecernji list.

Behind Switzerland in second place was Singapore, followed by USA, Germany and Holland. Full report here.