NZ more competitive

New Zealand's global competitiveness is climbing again. It has improved five places in the past year to rank 20th in the world, according to the just-released Swiss-based IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, a publication assessing 60 global economies based on 338 criteria.

New Zealand's ranking fell consistently from 15th place, recorded in 2009, to our lowest ever ranking of 25th recorded last year. Our highest ever ranking was 11th recorded in 1997. The IMD report has been going for 26 years.

This year's leap further closed the gap between trans-Tasman neighbours New Zealand and Australia. Australia slipped another notch from 16th to 17th place this year. Australia ranked behind New Zealand 17 years ago, but the tables turned over the intervening years and at one stage Australia passed New Zealand by a healthy 10-place margin. The United States is still number one followed by smaller economies, Switzerland, Singapore, Hong Kong and Sweden. Norway, around our size, came in 10th most competitive.
“New Zealand seems to be climbing back into contention and pitching for a higher slot,” said New Zealand Institute of Management (NZIM) chief executive Gary Sturgess when he announced the release of the results of the latest yearbook. NZIM is an IMD World Competitiveness Centre partner. More detailed analysis can be found at: IMD World Competitiveness Rankings 2014.