Israel dropped five spots to 24th place out of 60 in the 2014 World Competitiveness Yearbook Ranking released Thursday, continuing a downward trend from 17th in 2010- 11 and 19th in 2012-13.
Compiled each year by the IMD business school, the rankings aim to measure economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure.
While Israel was ranked similarly to China (23) and Korea (26), the countries that took the top spots were the United States, Switzerland, Singapore and Hong Kong.
The United States owes its top position to its resilient economy, better employment numbers, and dominance in technology and infrastructure. It is followed in the competitiveness ranking by three small economies - Switzerland, Singapore, and Hong Kong - all of which prosper from exports, business efficiency and innovation.
The report finds Europe is doing better than last year, thanks to its gradual economic recovery, but most of the big emerging markets are sliding in the rankings. It says the so-called BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China - are losing out in the competitiveness race as economic growth and foreign investment slow and infrastructure remains inadequate.
The lowest scores on Israel’s competitiveness ranking included its basic infrastructure, which came in at 48th, prices (43) and international trade (41). It scored 7th in its rank of attitudes and valued.
According to the report, the challenges facing Israel include problems with sustainable growth, bureaucracy and burden on the business sector, investments in periphery infrastructure (including education), increasing labor participation among minorities and decreasing economic disparities.
The IMD competitiveness rankings are based on four factors: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure. The report says there is no relationship between democracy and competitiveness, though the likelihood of a good government is higher in a democracy.
TheGlobal Competitiveness Report 2013-2014 assesses the competitiveness landscape of 148 economies, providing insight into the drivers of their productivity and prosperity. The Report series remains the most comprehensive assessment of national competitiveness worldwide.
