The World's Most Competitive Countries 2008


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The annual World Competitiveness Yearbook from Swiss business school IMD ranks 55 countries on 323 criteria, ranging from the per capita GDP and economic growth to exports, computer penetration, and even the cost of mobile phone service. It also includes qualitative assessments of dozens of factors, such as the level of corruption, state support for education, attitudes towards globalization, and the regulatory framework.

The table below lists this year's ranking. To add a little spice, we've also included results from the World Economic Forum, which ranks countries according to their "network-readiness," or how prepared they are to succeed in the knowledge-based economy of the 21st century. You can compare and contrast the results by clicking the columns.

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Click column heading once to reorder from highest to lowest. Click twice to reorder from lowest to highest.
Country
IMD World
Competitiveness Yearbook
Rank 2008
IMD World
Competitiveness Yearbook
Rank 2007
WEF Global Information
Technology Report
Rank 2008
WEF Global Information
Technology Report
Rank 2007
USA1 1 4 7 
Singapore2 2 5 3 
Hong Kong3 3 11 12 
Switzerland4 6 3 5 
Luxembourg5 4 24 25 
Denmark6 5 1 1 
Australia7 12 14 15 
Canada8 10 13 11 
Sweden9 9 2 2 
Netherlands10 8 7 6 
Norway11 13 10 10 
Ireland12 14 23 21 
Taiwan13 18 17 13 
Austria14 11 15 17 
Finland15 17 6 4 
Germany16 16 16 16 
China Mainland17 15 57 59 
New Zealand18 19 22 22 
Malaysia19 23 26 26 
Israel20 21 18 18 
United Kingdom21 20 12 9 
Japan22 24 19 14 
Estonia23 22 20 20 
Belgium24 25 25 24 
France25 28 21 23 
Chile26 26 34 31 
Thailand27 33 40 37 
Czech Republic28 32 36 34 
India29 27 50 44 
Slovak Republic30 34 43 41 
Korea31 29 9 19 
Slovenia32 40 30 30 
Spain33 30 31 32 
Jordan34 37 47 57 
Peru35 NA84 78 
Lithuania36 31 33 39 
Portugal37 39 28 28 
Hungary38 35 37 33 
Bulgaria39 41 68 72 
Philippines40 45 81 69 
Colombia41 38 69 64 
Greece42 36 56 48 
Brazil43 49 59 53 
Poland44 52 62 58 
Romania45 44 61 55 
Italy46 42 42 38 
Russia47 43 72 70 
Turkey48 48 55 52 
Croatia49 53 49 46 
Mexico50 47 58 49 
Indonesia51 54 76 62 
Argentina52 51 77 63 
South Africa53 50 51 47 
Ukraine54 46 70 75 
Venezuela55 55 86 83 
IcelandNA7 8 8 

NOTES
(1) From the 2008 annual IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook

(2) From the World Economic Forum Global Information Technology Report, 2008 (omits countries not listed in IMD study)