This year’s World Competitiveness Ranking sees the Netherlands’ position slip slightly, falling from fourth place to sixth as a result of the country’s high inflation rate and rapidly rising prices in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. 

IMD World Competitiveness Ranking 2022

Every year, the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking examines 63 countries around the world, ranking them according to the effect of a number of factors such as government, taxation, productivity and unemployment on the competitiveness of their economies. 

Using a combination of hard data and the results of various surveys filled out by entrepreneurs, chief executives and business partners, IMD assess each country across four categories in order to determine an overall ranking: 

• Economic performance (i.e. trade, employment, domestic economy)
• Government efficiency (i.e. taxation, public spending)
• Business efficiency (i.e. labour market, productivity)
• Infrastructure (i.e. education, healthcare, technology)

This year saw Denmark knock Switzerland off the top spot, while countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong managed to climb through the ranks, and Finland rose to secure a spot in the top 10. 

Rising prices make the Dutch economy less competitive

Since 2018, the Netherlands has managed to consistently secure a spot in the top 10, and 2022 is no different. While this year sees the country fall from the top five, the Netherlands still managed to claim a very respectable sixth-place ranking with an overall score of 94,29 out of 100.

IMD highlights a number of issues the country has faced over the past several months, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the end of the coronavirus pandemic and ensuing government restrictions in the spring, and the pressure to meet international climate goals.

The Netherlands performed particularly well in the business efficiency and infrastructure categories, coming in third place and fifth place respectively and improving on its 2021 ranking in both. The country’s overall ranking, however, was let down by the economic performance category, where the Netherlands fell from second place in 2021 to 19th place in 2022 - largely as a result of the rising cost of living and a fall in international investment.

The top 10 most competitive economies in the world 

According to the 2022 ranking, the 10 most competitive economies in the world are: 

1. Denmark
2. Switzerland
3. Singapore
4. Sweden
5. Hong Kong
6. The Netherlands
7. Taiwan
8. Finland
9. Norway
10. USA

For more information about the ranking, visit the IMD website.