The Most Competitive Economies in the World

Bangalore: The World Economic Forum just released its 2012-2013 ranking of the most competitive economies and Switzerland took the top spot for the fourth straight year. Have a look.

10. Japan
GCI score: 5.40
GDP per capita: $45,920 (18th highest)
Debt as a pct. of GDP: 229.8 Percent (the highest)
Individuals using Internet: 79.5 Percent (17th highest)
Infant mortality rates: 2.4 per 1,000 live births (7th lowest)

Being the world’s third-largest gross domestic product, Japan generates large domestic and export demand for the goods and services it produces. Right away from low value products to high value goods such as semiconductors and auto parts, Japan exports a diverse array of products and services from all along the value chain. The country’s production processes are ranked first in the world for technological sophistication. Japan is one of the leading contributors to innovation, above the U.S., which ranked seventh in this category and ranked second for company research and development spending.

9. Hong Kong SAR
GCI score: 5.41
GDP per capita: $34,049 (26th highest)
Debt as a pct. of GDP: 33.9 Percent (52nd lowest)
Individuals using Internet: 74.5 Percent (25th highest)
Infant mortality rates: 1.3 per 1,000 live births (the lowest)

Hong Kong is among few nations where you can find having the quality of infrastructure. All essentials for economic efficiency and attracting economic activity like railroads, ports and air transportation were rated highly by the city’s residents. Regardless of its extremely small size, Hong Kong still had the 40th-highest GDP of all 144 economies. The People’s Republic of China has the world’s most-developed financial market, beating out much larger countries such as the United States, which was ranked 16th, and China itself, which was ranked 54th.