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Global Competitiveness Report 2019

Summary by James R. Martin, Ph.D., CMA
Professor Emeritus, University of South Florida

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The World Economic Forum's (WEF's) 2019 Global Competitiveness Report

The 2019 report is based on the Global Competitiveness Index 4.0 that is organized into 12 main drivers or pillars of productivity: Institutions, Infrastructure, ICT adoption, Macroeconomic stability, Health, Skills, Product market, Labor market, Financial system, Market size, Business dynamism, and Innovation capability. There are 103 indicators distributed across the 12 pillars. Scores range from 0 to 100 where 100 represents the optimum situation. This summary includes Index 4.0 Rankings and Scores for 141 Countries, and Specific Data for the United States.

Rankings and Scores for 141 Countries

The Global Competitiveness Index 4.0 2019 Rankings and Scores

1. Singapore 84.8
2. United States 83.7
3. Hong Kong SAR 83.1
4. Netherlands 82.4
5. Switzerland 82.3
6. Japan 82.3
7. Germany 81.8
8. Sweden 81.2
9. United Kingdom 81.2
10. Denmark 81.2
11. Finland 80.2
12. Taiwan, China 80.2
13. Korea, Rep 79.6
14. Canada 79.6
15. France 78.8
16. Australia 78.7
17. Norway 78.1
18. Luxembourg 77.0
19. New Zealand 76.7
20. Israel 76.7
21. Austria 76.6
22. Belgium 76.4
23. Spain 75.3
24. Ireland 75.1
25. United Arab Emirates 75.0
26. Iceland 74.7
27. Malaysia 74.6
28. China 73.9
29. Qatar 72.9
30. Italy 71.5
31. Estonia 70.9
32. Czech Republic 70.9
33. Chile 70.5
34. Portugal 70.4
35. Slovenia 70.2
36. Saudi Arabia 70.0
37. Poland 68.9
38. Malta 68.5
39. Lithuania 68.4
40. Thailand 68.1
41. Latvia 67.0
42. Slovak Repiblic 66.8
43. Russian Federation 66.7
44. Cyprus 66.4
45. Bahrain 65.4
46. Kuwait 65.1
47. Hungary 65.1
48. Mexico 64.9
49. Bulgaria 64.9
50. Indonesia 64.6
51. Romania 64.4
52. Mauritius 64.3
53. Oman 63.6
54. Uruguay 63.5
55. Kazakhstan 62.9
56. Brunei Darussalam 62.8
57. Colombia 62.7
58. Azerbaijan 62.7
59. Greece 62.6
60. South Africa 62.4
61. Turkey 62.1
62. Costa Rica 62.0
63. Croatia 61.9
64. Phillippines 61.9
65. Peru 61.7
66. Panama 61.6
67. Viet Nam 61.5
68. India 61.4
69. Armenia 61.3
70. Jordan 60.9
71. Brazil 60.9
72. Serbia 60.9
73. Montenegro 60.8
74. Geogia 60.6
75. Morocco 60.0
76. Seychelles 59.6
77. Barbados 58.9
78. Dominican Republic 58.3
79. Trinidad and Tobago 58.3
80. Jamaica 58.3
81. Albania 57.6
82. North Macedonia 57.3
83. Argentina 57.2
84. Sri Lanka 57.1
85. Ukraine 57.0
86. Moldova 56.7
87. Tunisia 56.4
88. Lebanon 56.3
89. Algeria 56.3
90. Ecuador 55.7
91. Botswana 55.5
92. Bosnia and Herzegovina 54.7
93. Egypt 54.5
94. Namibia 54.5
95. Kenya 54.1
96. Kyrgyz Republic 54.0
97. Paraguay 53.6
98. Guatemala 53.5
99. Iran, Islamic Rep. 53.0
100. Rwanda 52.8
101. Honduras 52.7
102. Mongolia 52.6
103. El Salvador 52.6
104. Tajikistan 52.4
105. Bangladesh 52.1
106. Cambodia 52.1
107. Bolivia 51.8
108. Nepal 51.6
109. Nicaragua 51.5
110. Pakistan 51.4
111. Ghana 51.2
112. Cape Verde 50.8
113. Lao PDR 50.1
114. Senegal 49.7
115. Uganda 48.9
116. Nigeria 48.3
117. Tanzania 48.2
118. Cote d'Ivoire 48.1
119. Gabon 47.5
120. Zambia 46.5
121. Eswatini 46.4
122. Guinea 46.1
123. Cameroon 46.0
124. Gambia, The 45.9
125. Benin 45.8
126. Ethiopia 44.4
127. Zimbabwe 44.2
128. Malawi 43.7
129. Mali 43.6
130. Burkina Faso 43.4
131. Lesotho 42.9
132. Madagasca 42.9
133. Venezuela 41.8
134. Mauritania 40.9
135. Burundi 40.3
136. Angola 38.1
137. Mozambique 38.1
138. Hati 36.3
139. Congo, Dem. Rep 36.1
140. Yemen 35.5
141. Chad 35.1

Specific Data for the United States

The following tables were adapted from pages 598-601 of the report. The tables include U.S. Pillars, their main components, values, scores, and ranks based on 141 countries.


1. Institutions: Score 71.2, Rank 20

Component
Value
Score
Rank/141
Security
-
76.7
64
Organized Crime 1-7
4.7
61.9
69
Homicide rate per 100,000 pop.
5.3
83.7
96
Terrorism incidence 0-100
83.3
83.3
129
Reliability of police services 1-7
5.7
78.1
26
Social capital
-
65.1
6
Social capital 0-100
65.1
65.1
6
Checks and balances
-
72.0
12
Budget transparency 0-100
77
77.0
7
Judicial independence 1-7
5.2
70.4
25
Efficiency in challenging regulations 1-7
5.0
66.2
8
Freedom of the press 0-100
25.7
74.3
42
Public-sector performance 0-100
-
75.8
7
Burden of government regulation 1-7
4.5
57.7
14
Efficiency of legal framework in settling disputes 1-7
5.3
71.2
11
E-Participation 0-1
.98
98.3
5
Transparency 0-100
-
71.0
22
Incidence of corruption 0-100
71.0
71.0
22
Property rights 0-100
-
71.0
30
Property rights 1-7
5.6
76.0
22
Intellectual property protection 1-7
5.7
78.3
12
Quality of administration 0-30
17.6
58.7
58
Corporate governance 0-100
-
69.6
31
Strength of auditing and accounting standards 1-7
5.8
79.8
17
Conflict of interest regulation 0-10
8.3
83.0
8
Shareholder governance 0-10
4.6
46.0
99
Future orientation of government 0-100
-
68.2
20
Government ensuring policy stability 1-7
5.3
71.9
16
Government responsiveness to change 1-7
5.1
68.9
11
Legal framework's adaptability to digital business models 1-7
5.7
78
1
Government long-term vision 1-7
5.0
66.2
17
Energy efficiency regulation 0-100
82.0
82.0
12
Renewable energy regulation 0-100
58.4
58.4
49
Environment-related treaties in force out of 29
16
55.2
132

2. Infrastructure: Score 87.9, Rank 13

Component
Value
Score
Rank/141
Transport Infrastructure 0-100
-
79.6
12
Road connectivity 0-100
100
100
1
Quality of Infrastructure 1-7
5.5
74.5
17
Railroad density km/1,000km2
16.5
41.3
48
Efficiency of train services 1-7
5.2
69.2
12
Airport connectivity score
7,293,521.5
100.0
1
Efficiency of transport services 1-7
5.8
79.6
10
Liner shipping connectivity 0-100
96.7
96.7
8
Efficiency of seaport services 1-7
5.6
75.9
10
Utility infrastructure 0-100
-
96.2
23
Electricity access % of population
100
100
2
Electricity supply quality % of output
5.4
98.6
23
Exposure to unsafe drinking water % of population
0.3
100
14
Reliability of water supply 1-7
6.2
86.1
30

3. ICT adoption: Score 74.3, Rank 27

Component
Value
Score
Rank/141
Mobile-cellular telephone subscriptions per 100 pop.
123.7
100
54
Mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 pop.
142.5
N/Appl.
7
Fixed-broadband Internet subscriptions per 100 pop.
35.6
71.2
18
Fixed Internet subscriptions per 100 pop.
4.2
N/Appl.
45
Internet users % of population
87.3
87.3
26

4. Macroeconomic stability: Score 99.8, Rank 37

Component
Value
Score
Rank/141
Inflation %
2.3
100
1
Debt dynamics 0-100
99.5
99.5
38

5. Health: Score 83.0, Rank 55

Component
Value
Score
Rank/141
Healthy life expectancy years
66.6
83.0
54

6. Skills: Score 82.5, Rank 9

Component
Value
Score
Rank/141
Current workforce 0-100
-
80.5
3
Mean years of schooling years
13.4
89.4
7
Skills of current workforce 0-100
-
71.7
5
Extent of staff training 1-7
5.3
72.3
6
Quality of vocational training 1-7
5.2
70.7
8
Skillset of graduates 1-7
5.3
71.2
5
Digital skills among active population 1-7
5.3
72.2
12
Ease of finding skilled employees 1-7
5.3
72.1
1
Future workforce 0-100
-
84.4
14
School life expectancy years
16.3
90.4
30
Skills of future workforce 0-100
-
76.4
12
Critical thinking in teaching 1-7
5.1
67.9
9
Pupil-to-teacher ratio in primary education
14.5
88.9
45

7. Product market: Score 66.6, Rank 8

Component
Value
Score
Rank/141
Domestic competition 0-100
-
70.2
7
Distortive effect of taxes and subsidies on competition 1-7
4.5
58.3
27
Extent of market dominance 1-7
5.2
70.6
7
Competition in services 1-7
5.9
81.5
2
Trade openness 0-100
-
67.0
14
Prevalence of non-tariff barriers 1-7
4.9
65.2
33
Trade tariffs %
1.65
80.0
38
Complexity of tariffs 1-7
3.7
44.3
110
Border clearance efficiency 1-5
3.8
89.4
10

8. Labor market: Score 78.0, Rank 4

Component
Value
Score
Rank/141
Flexibility 0-100
-
73.7
3
Redundancy costs weeks of salary
0.0
100
1
Hiring and firing practices 1-7
5.3
71.8
5
Cooperation in labor-employer relations 1-7
5.2
70.6
21
Flexibility of wage determination 1-7
5.7
77.9
18
Active labor market policies 1-7
4.9
65.7
13
Workers rights 0-100
69.0
69.0
81
Ease of hiring foreign labor 1-7
4.6
59.4
31
Internal labor mobility 1-7
5.5
75.0
1
Meritocracy and incentivization 0-100
-
82.3
6
Reliance on professional management 1-7
5.7
76.9
10
Pay and productivity 1-7
5.3
71.1
5
Ratio of wage and salaried female workers to male workers %
0.85
81.6
39
Labor tax rate %
9.8
97.5
29

9. Financial system: Score 91.0, Rank 3

Component
Value
Score
Rank/141
Depth 0-100
-
89.1
1
Domestic credit to private sector % GDP
190.2
100
3
Financing of SMEs 1-7
5.5
74.8
2
Venture capital availability 1-7
5.2
70.6
1
Market capitalization % of GDP
150.3
100
6
Insurance premium volume to GDP
6.5
100
13
Stability 0-100
-
93.4
26
Soundness of banks 1-7
5.8
80.4
25
Non-performing loans % of gross total loans
1.1
98.7
14
Credit gap %
-1.6
100
1
Bank's regulatory capital ratio % of total risk-weighted assets
14.3
94.3
115

10. Market size: Score 99.5, Rank 2

Component
Value
Score
Rank/141
Gross domestic product ppp in billions
18,217
N/Appl.
2
Imports of goods and services % GDP
15.4
N/Appl.
139

11. Business dynamism: Score 84.2, Rank 1

Component
Value
Score
Rank/141
Administrative requirements 0-100
-
94.0
1
Cost of starting a business % of GNI per capita
1.0
95.5
24
Time to start a business days
5.6
94.9
31
Insolvency recovery rate cents to the dollar
81.8
88.1
18
Insolvency regulatory framework 0-16
15.0
93.8
1
Entrepreneurial culture 0-100
-
74.4
2
Attitudes towards entrepreneurial risk 1-7
5.6
75.9
2
Willingness to delegate authority 1-7
5.6
77.0
7
Growth of innovative companies 1-7
5.6
76.5
2
Companies embracing disruptive ideas 1-7
5.1
68.1
2

12. Innovation capability: Score 84.1, Rank 2

Component
Value
Score
Rank/141
Interaction and diversity 0-100
-
76.0
8
Diversity of workforce 1-7
5.5
75.5
7
State of cluster development 1-7
5.5
74.8
2
International co-inventions per million pop.
12.39
79.6
19
Multi-stakeholder collaboration 1-7
5.4
73.9
2
Research and development 0-100
-
95.7
3
Scientific publications score
2,088
100
1
Patent applications per million pop.
143.99
91.4
13
R&D expenditures % GDP
2.7
91.5
11
Research institutions prominence 0-100
4.06
100
1
Commercialization 0-100
-
77.3
9
Buyer sophistication 1-7
5.1
68.8
4
Trademark applications per million pop.
2,947.15
85.9
32

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