India attained 50th place in the annual Global Competitiveness 2008-09 ranking. It was at 48th place last year. The list is compiled by the World Economic Forum with its network of Partner Institutes in various countries. 

China has improved its ranking and got 30th spot in the latest list. It attained highest rank among the BRIC economies. US topped the list of 134 countries. The country got the first rank despite financial crisis in the economy.

US, Switzerland, Denmark and Sweden are the top five countries. The ranking list is prepared from publicly available data and the Executive Opinion Survey. Over 12,000 business leaders were polled in 134 countries. WEF prepared the list to access various factors which affects the business atmosphere in any economy.

WEF list explains various factors which are deterrent in its economic and business growth. These factors are-- highest deficits of the country in the world, unsustainable levels of government debt, and high inflation rate. The report elaborates that India is one of the biggest consumer market of the world with brilliant scientists and engineers.