Canada advances, U.S. slides in ranking of world’s most competitive economies
The U.S. tumbled further in a ranking of most competitive world economies, dragged down by the weight of President Donald Trump’s trade wars. Canada jumped five spots.
After losing the top spot to Singapore in 2018, the U.S. dropped further down the list to 10th place from third, according to an annual ranking from the Institute for Management Development, a business school based in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Singapore was the most competitive economy for the second year in a row, followed by Denmark and Switzerland.
The United States’ trade war with China has increased uncertainty for businesses, a factor weighing on both countries’ competitiveness.
China, the world’s second-biggest economy, dropped six spots to No. 20 on the IMD’S ranking.
“Trade wars have damaged both China and the USA’S economies, reversing their positive growth trajectories,” the IMD said.
Canada moved up to No. 8 from No. 13 in the IMD’S ranking.
Asia-pacific economies were weaker than usual, with most slipping from last year’s rankings, including a four-spot drop by Japan to No. 34 and Indonesia’s slide by eight notches, to No. 40. India remained at No. 43.
The Middle East’s economies struggled under the weight of the oil-price crisis, with the United Arab Emirates falling to No. 9.
The IMD’S rankings assess 63 economies on hundreds of indicators: a combination of hard data, such as employment, cost of living, and government spending, and soft data from surveys of international business executives on topics including political stability and protection of intellectual property rights.
The top five — Singapore, Denmark, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Hong Kong — show the strength of smaller economies in surviving global risks, the IMD said.
Singapore earned the top spot because of its robust trade and investment, strong education and technology infrastructure, it said.