This archive report was first published on 17 June 2020.
On June 17, 2020, the Institute for Management Development (IMD) released its world economic competitiveness ranking for 2019, with Singapore taking the top spot for the second year in a row.
The US and China trailed behind at 10th and 20th position respectively, while South Africa, the only African country in the top 63, dropped three positions to 59th from 56th in 2018.
Singapore's strong international trade, stable labour market, and robust education and technological infrastructure contributed to its ranking.
Smaller economies such as Denmark, Switzerland, Netherlands, and Hong Kong followed Singapore in the ranking, with IMD attributing this trend to their ability to weather global risks better than larger economies.
"The benefit of small economies in the current crisis comes from their ability to fight a pandemic and from their economic competitiveness. In part, this may be because it is easy to find social consensus." — Arturo Bris, Director of IMD World Competitiveness Center
The Sino-American trade wars had a significant impact on the US and China, causing them to fall behind from 3rd and 14th position respectively. The report noted that the trade wars had "reversed their positive growth trajectories" since 2018.
Other notable changes in the ranking included the UAE's drop from 5th to 9th position due to the oil crisis and the UK's rise to 19th position due to Brexit's business-friendly appeal.
