Scandinavia Ranks on the Top 10 List of World’s Most Competitive Countries (2024)
Scandinavia Ranks on the Top 10 List of World’s Most Competitive Countries. Denmark ranks at the top, while Sweden is no. 4 and Norway no. 9.
For the first time in the 34 years that the IMD Business School has published its World Competitiveness Ranking, Denmark rose from third place last year to the top spot for 2022.
For context, the IMD report analyses and ranks economies based on how the government manages its competencies and policies in domains such as economic, government, business, and infrastructure to achieve long-term value creation, comprising 333 competitiveness criteria which go beyond the realms of gross domestic product (GDP) and productivity levels. The most competitive economy has a score of 100.
After steadily climbing the list from number 6 in 2018, Denmark received high marks for its resilient economy, law and order, social responsibility, stability, cohesion, absence of corruption, openness to trade, adaptability, ongoing education and motivated employees.
“Denmark is the most digitally advanced country in the world and now takes the top spot thanks to good policies, advantages afforded by being a European country, a clear focus on sustainability and a push from its agile corporate sector,” Arturo Bris, a professor at the Lausanne, Switzerland-based IMD, said in the statement.
At a quick glance, the top 10 most competitive economies globally are:
“This good result reflects that we, in many ways, have an incredibly well-functioning society and some very strong businesses,” Allan Sørensen, chief economist at the Confederation of Danish Industry (Dansk Industri, DI), told DI Business.
Along with the other Nordic nations, the Danish economy fared better through lockdowns than most of its wealthy peers, helped by strong social safety networks, low debt levels and digital progress, as well as lower dependency on tourism. Denmark’s unemployment is at its lowest level in 14 years and gross domestic product will likely expand 3.4% this year, according to the most recent government forecast.
Scandinavia on the Top 10 List of World’s Most Competitive Countries, written by Tor Kjolberg
Switzerland is ranked the world's best country for attracting and nurturing talent for the 10th year in a row, followed closely by Singapore and the United States. Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Australia, Sweden and the United Kingdom are the other top 10 countries for talent competitiveness.
Singapore is the most competitive economy out of 67 across the world's eight major regions. This is a major finding of the 2024 IMD World Competitiveness Ranking (WCR), which measures economies with population size and GDP on both ends of the scale.
The IMD ranking is evidence, that an economy's competitiveness cannot be reduced only to GDP and productivity. Among the subcategories, that landed Denmark its spot at the top are such things as direct investment flow inward as percentage of GDP, real growth and investments in telecommunications.
Sweden offers an extremely competitive, open economy with access to new products, technologies, skills, and innovations. Sweden also has a well-educated labor force, outstanding communication infrastructure, and a stable political environment, which makes it a choice destination for U.S. and foreign companies.
For the 10th year running, Switzerland has topped a 64-strong list of economies spread over eight regions, in the IMD World Talent Ranking. The Alpine nation's quality of life, statutory minimum wage and primary and secondary education systems were unbeatable.
Norway's triumph as the best country in the world to work in 2024 is no surprise as it has topped the UNDP Human Development Index for several years, with an HDI of 0.961 in 2021. HDI summarises a country's human development achievements, including: Long and healthy lifespan. Standard of living.
The Social Progress Index 2017 capture three dimensions of social progress: Basic Human Needs, Foundations of Wellbeing, and Opportunity and found Denmark to have the best quality of life in the World.
Weaknesses. Small open economy sensitive to external demand, especially from Germany and Sweden. Very high household debt (165% of gross disposable income in Q2 2023) Public sector constitutes a significant part of the country's employment (30% of employees in first nine months of 2022)
At the bottom of the list, Venezuela, Argentina, and Mongolia face significant challenges in business competitiveness in 2023. These countries suffer from a trifecta of poor economic performance, low business and government efficiency, and substandard infrastructure, hindering business growth and development.
Doha, Qatar, has the most competitive job market in the world. Spare a thought for job seekers in Doha, Qatar — they're up against the fiercest competition in the world.
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