Chapter 3: Regional Analysis and Selected Economy Highlights

The Global Competitiveness Report has monitored and benchmarked the factors and institutions that determine productivity in close to 140 countries for the past 40 years. In this chapter, we present the results by region, as well as results for the top 10 ranked economies and G20 countries. Additional economies are described in the Economy Profiles.

The results show that growth is starting to recover, but still is not yet sufficient to provide the foundations needed for continued reductions in poverty and broad-based improvements in the quality of life of the many. With emerging markets having a greater participation in global production and growth, progress in competitiveness among the large growing economies of Asia, Africa, and Latin America will be fundamental to the ability to provide a new boost to global growth.

In the context of the global challenges presented in Chapter 1, understanding the determinants and priorities at a regional level is a necessity for striving for faster global convergence toward higher incomes and greater well-being. Making globalization work for all requires making progress in all the pillars of competitiveness across regions. Emerging economies need to close the gaps with advanced economies in order to benefit from the possibilities of international trade and mobility of labor and capital as well as the latest technological developments available worldwide. On the other hand, advanced economies need to prioritize competitiveness-enhancing reforms. In particular in the current rapidly changing and still challenging socioeconomic context, inaction will undermine future prosperity. Our data show that all countries have room for improvement while some are even falling back in specific areas.