Finland still tops global list of most competitive economies

The World Economic Forum’s annual competitiveness report shows
that the Nordic countries continue to shine with excellent economic
management and technological innovation.

The top five places in the 2004 annual competitiveness report
issued by the World Economic Forum (WEF) have remained
unchanged since the previous year. The report places Finland,
the US, Sweden, Taiwan and Denmark as the world’s most
competitive economies (see also ).

“The Nordic countries are characterised by excellent
macroeconomic management overall – they are all running budget
surpluses – they have extremely low levels of corruption, with
their firms operating in a legal environment in which there is
widespread respect for contracts and the rule of law, and their
private sectors are at the forefront of technological
innovation,” said Augusto Lopez-Claros, Chief Economist
and Director of the WEF’s Global Competitiveness
Programme.

The US continues to hold on to second position thanks to its
high level of technological innovation.

For the EU, the most noticable changes concern the UK and
Italy. While Britain managed to climb back to 11th place
(2003: 15th), Italy’s decline continued and it is now ranked 47th
(compared to 26th in 2001), the lowest of any EU-15 country and
lower than many new Member States. France has also slipped by
one place (26th to 27th) since last year.

Germany managed to hold on to 13th place despite
macroeconomic difficulties such as high budget deficits, high
unemployment and slow growth.

Estonia reached by far the highest place among the new Member
States (20th), followed by Malta (32th) and Lithuania (36th).
Poland is in 60th place, and Bulgaria (59th), Romania
(62nd) and Turkey (66th) also have some catching up to do with
the EU.

The rankings are compiled from a survey of 8,700 business
leaders in 104 countries worldwide. The report reflects a wide
range of factors which affect a country’s economy, including the
macroeconomic environment, public institutions and technological
innovation.

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