Australia has dropped another place in world competitiveness rankings, falling further in economic performance and government efficiency rankings, raising concerns about our competitiveness as a smart economy.
The 2015 World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) shows Australia has dropped another spot to 18.
The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook compares and ranks 61 countries on business competitiveness criteria and is the world's most renowned and comprehensive annual report on the competitiveness of nations.
In releasing the Australian results of the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook which ranks and assesses 61 countries, CEDA Chief Executive, Professor the Hon. Stephen Martin said Australia’s decline to 18 in the world rankings highlighted a concerning trend over the last five years.
“The overall result is drawn from rankings for four key areas - economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure and Australia has slipped significantly in all these areas over the last five years,” he said.
The rankings are part of Switzerland based IMD’s 2015 World Competitiveness Yearbook, which compares and ranks 61 countries based on more than 300 business competitiveness criteria. Two-thirds are based on statistical indicators and one third is based on a survey of international executives conducted in March/April of this year. CEDA is the Australian partner for the yearbook.
Read about Australia's competitiveness trends overall, challenges in 2015 and see how Australia ranks on economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure in the summary for Australia
Read CEDA media release - World competitiveness ranking: Australia slipping as a smart economy
Read IMD media release - IMD release its 2015 World Competitiveness Ranking
See the 2015 international rankings
In 2011, according to the IMD's World Competitiveness Yearbook, Australia's competitiveness was ranked 9, down four spots from it's 2010 ranking of 5.
Read more International affairs October 30, 2009The case for greater engagement with the world's fastest growing economy.
Read more International affairs October 22, 2005Australia needs to manage five key risks as it heads toward a free trade agreement with China, says former Ambassador to China Ross Garnaut. But we are better-equipped than ever before to do it.
Read moreMake a donation today to directly support CEDA’s independent research, tackling the big issues for Australia. Click here.
(Donations over $2 are tax deductible)