Israel ranked 20th in the World Competitiveness Rankings

Israel was ranked 27th in economic performance; 21st in government efficiency; 16th in business efficiency and 14th in infrastructures
 
International Institute for Management Development (IMD) published last week its 2008 IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY). The ranking put Israel at the 20th place, out of 55 countries, one place higher than the year before.
 
With the US at 100, Singapore is in a close second place at 99.3 in the WCY overall ranking followed by Hong Kong, Switzerland, and Luxembourg. As mentioned, Israel was ranked in the 20th place with 72.408 points.
 
The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook is the most reputable and comprehensive report on the competitiveness of nations published since 1989. It provides several customized rankings, whether by size, by wealth, by regions, etc. as well as country competitiveness profiles and analysis.
 
The study lists 55 economies according to 331 criteria that measure how the nations create and maintain conditions favorable to businesses. The World Competitiveness Rankings organizes the criteria into four main groups: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure.
 
Ten European countries featured among the 55 surveyed, including Switzerland, Luxembourg, Sweden 9th, the Netherlands 10th, Norway 11th and Ireland 12th. Britain, France and Italy, the European members of the G8 group of key industrialized economies, languished in 21st, 25th and 46th place respectively.
 
Israel was ranked 27th in economic performance, six places higher than last year; 21st in government efficiency, up four places; 16th in business efficiency, the same as last year; and 14th in infrastructures, also the same as last year.
 
Israel is ranked number one in R&D spending as a percentage of GDP, the same as last year. It is also ranked number one in public spending on education, up from sixth place last year, and it is ranked in second place in skilled manpower, compared with fourth place last year.