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Luxembourg has come in 19th in the World Economic Forum’s annual competitiveness survey released this week. Pictured: The WEF logo is seen at its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, 20 January 2018. Photo credit: World Economic Forum/Mattias Nutt 

Luxembourg ranked 19th out of 140 territories in “The Global Competitiveness Report 2018” (PDF), published by the World Economic Forum, a Swiss research outfit, on 16 October.

It ranked 19th out of 137 in 2017.

According to the WEF report:

“Covering 140 economies, the Global Competitiveness Index 4.0 measures national competitiveness--defined as the set of institutions, policies and factors that determine the level of productivity.”

Luxembourg performed particularly well in several categories, including its financial system (9th best in the world), health (14th best, with 97 out of 100 possible points) and macroeconomic stability (earning a perfect 100 score).

Future ready government

The country also shined in the “future preparedness” of its public sector. This, the WEF report stated, reflects:

“[A] government’s ability to prepare for the future, and covers policy stability, responsiveness to change, long-term vision and the adaptability of the legal framework to technological change. The median score is just 45, yet the most future-prepared governments are not necessarily those of the most competitive economies. Only three--Switzerland, the United States and Singapore--feature in the top 10 of both lists. The East Asia and the Pacific and Middle East and North Africa regions outperform Europe and North America, with Singapore (85.6) scoring highest followed by Luxembourg (79.0), the United States (78.3), and the United Arab Emirates (76.7).”

Dragging the grand duchy down in the overall ratings, were lower scores in worker skills (75 out of 100 points, but only 22nd best out of the 140 economies surveyed), business dynamism (38th, 66 points) and, unsurprisingly, market size (77th place, with just 50 points).

The WEF produces the annual report with local partners; here it worked with the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce.

Top 20 competitive economies (score out of 100 points)

  • United States (85.6)
  • Singapore (83.5)
  • Germany (82.8)
  • Switzerland (82.6)
  • Japan (82.5)
  • Netherlands (82.4)
  • Hong Kong SAR (82.3)
  • United Kingdom (82.0)
  • Sweden (81.7)
  • Denmark (80.6)
  • Finland (80.3)
  • Canada (79.9)
  • Taiwan, China (79.3)
  • Australia (78.9)
  • Korea, Rep. (78.8)
  • Norway (78.2)
  • France (78.0)
  • New Zealand (77.5)
  • Luxembourg (76.6)
  • Israel (76.6)

The score does not have a direct impact on a country’s economy, but can be used for nation branding and marketing campaigns, and to boost confidence among international executives and investors.