It has been learnt that New Zealand, which was on 18th place initially on the IMD’s annual World Competitiveness Yearbook, has risen to 15th now.

IMD ranked 57 economies, in which the US is still top while Hong Kong has switched places with Singapore to be second and is swiftly closing the gap with the US. Furthermore, fourth rank was still maintained by Switzerland from last year.

Sweden was on ninth place initially, it jumped three places and came to sixth, while Finland rose to ninth and Norway maintained its 11th position. Australia and Canada were on their same respective places of seventh and eighth.

According to the stress taking test, Denmark was at 12th rank in its effort to tolerate adversity and show resilience.

Factors such as likely improvement in the management of public finances, the government’s adaptability to policy changes, lower taxes and skilled labour force contributed to the improved competitiveness ranking.

 Lower GDP growth, rising inflation and a wider government deficit were included in negative factors.

However, it was warned by IMD that its rankings are based on a majority of statistics from 2008, especially the growth period of early 2008, and countries entered the economic crisis at different times.

(via TopNews New Zealand. Contributed by Amiri Halberg)