A recent report from the World Economic Forum ranks the competitiveness score of 130 countries. Switzerland tops the overall list, with the U.S. coming in at second, after several years of leading the rankings, citing a weakening of its financial markets and macroeconomic stability. Singapore ranked third with more Scandinavian countries--Sweden and Denmark--completing the list of the top five countries. European economies in general continue to prevail in the top 10 with Finland, Germany and the Netherlands following suit. 

The U.S. still topped the list in the realms of innovation and competitive indicators, but "a number of weaknesses particularly related to public and private institutions, as well as continuing burgeoning macroeconomic imbalances, have somewhat eroded the country’s overall competitiveness potential over the past years.”

Referencing the current global economic downturn, the authors of the report call for all countries to “not (lose) sight of long-term competitiveness fundamentals amid short-term urgencies.” This means providing young people with the tools and resources to think entrepreneurially--with innovation and creativity. It means finding mentors to help develop new ideas and building networks to expand these ideas around the country and the world. It will be up to this next generation to provide innovative ideas that keep countries around the world producing new technologies and best practices. One way to accomplish these goals is by taking part in Global Entrepreneurship Week--either as a participant, a partner or a mentor.

The World Economic Report, which has been released annually since 2005, bases its analysis on the Global Competitiveness Index, a comprehensive index that captures the microeconomic and macroeconomic foundations of national competitiveness. The report analyzes over 100 indicators, for a total of 133 countries. The report contains a detailed profile for each of these economies as well as data tables with global rankings covering each of the indicators.

View the report and rankings, as well as interviews with the reports’ co-authors.

Paige Ingram works for the Global Entrepreneurship Week planning team and is based in Washington D.C.

tags: global competitiveness index, Singapore, Switzerland, UK, usa, world economic forum