This year’s Global Competitiveness Report published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) confirms that Switzerland remains a star pupil when it comes to competitiveness. Of the 141 countries featured in the report, Switzerland scooped fifth place. Although this marks a fall of one place compared to last year, Switzerland lost very little in terms of points – achieving 83.3 this year and 82.6 last year.
Switzerland is a great innovator
Switzerland’s position can be attributed to high rankings across the different categories – including a place in the top five in seven of the overall 12. For innovation potential, which considers the number of patent applications, partnerships with businesses and research institutes and the number and quality of business clusters, Switzerland scooped an impressive third place.
High efficiency in the job market and education system
Switzerland was also highly ranked for the efficiency of its job market, being named second overall. According to the report, this can be attributed to very good social partnerships, high levels of flexibility and high quality working relationships. Even better than that, however, is Switzerland’s education system, which ranked in first place. The country offers excellent education opportunities and support programmes for university leavers, writes WEF.
Trust boosts business
It doesn’t end there, though. Switzerland came high in the ranking for the quality of its institutions (6th place), infrastructure (4th place) and financial (4th place) and healthcare systems (5th place). Public institutions in Switzerland are among the most transparent and legally efficient in the world, which strengthens trust in business activities, according to the report. The country’s infrastructure facilities are of a high quality as well – particularly the train network (3rd place) and the roads (3rd place). Also ranked highly is the financial system (4th place).
Singapore topped this year’s ranking, followed by the USA, Hong Kong and the Netherlands. Behind Switzerland are Japan, Germany, Sweden and Great Britain.
