Madrid, June 17 (EFE). – The economic competitiveness of Latin American countries has been affected by the outbreak of the epidemic, which particularly affected the region, and weakened the improvements recorded in 2019 and 2020, according to the annual report of the Global Competitiveness Center of the Swiss Business School Institute of Management Development (IMD).
Globally, Switzerland leads the rankings after rising from third place, staying ahead of Sweden which also improved its position, and Denmark.
All Latin American countries included in the annual ranking of the school studying prosperity and economic competitiveness of 64 countries of the world lost positions in relation to the 2020 ranking.
In this sense, over the past year, the countries of the region analyzed – Chile, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Argentina and Venezuela – have fallen by an average of three places and moved from 54th to 57th.
The biggest drops were recorded in Chile (which in 2017 ranked 35th) and Peru, which lost six places to 44th and 58th, respectively.
Mexico and Colombia lost places to 55 and 56, respectively, while Brazil lost one place and fell to 57.
Even more worrying is the placement of Argentina and Venezuela, penultimate and last respectively in the ranking and with no prospect of improvement if one considers their evolution in the past five years.
Low economic performance
The economic performance analysis is the worst performing country in the region, with Brazil ranked 51st, the country with the best result after moving up from the 56th place it was in 2020.
In government efficiency, the winner remains almost unopposed to Chile, which is ranked 22nd, although it is down two places, and with the exception of Peru which is at 48th, the rest of the countries are at the bottom of the ranking: Argentina (64), Venezuela (63) Brazil (62), Mexico (59), and Colombia (58).
In terms of business efficiency, Argentina and Venezuela topped the rankings at the bottom of the ranking, only surpassed by Croatia.
In terms of infrastructure, it is Venezuela, which again takes the last place, and Peru (60), which gets the worst rating.
The ranking, which this year includes a New Country Analysis (Botswana), examines the prosperity and competitiveness of the economies of 64 countries across four broad areas: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure.
Switzerland leads the world
Globally, Switzerland tops the ranking after rising from third place, thanks to international investment, employment, aspects related to education, public finance and institutional framework.
Sweden came in second place, as it rose four places compared to the 2020 ranking as a result of its good economic performance, especially in the national economy and employment.
Denmark (3), the Netherlands (4) and Singapore (5) completed the top five, which lost first place due to job losses, lack of productivity and the economic impact of the health crisis.
In this sense, the report notes that the most competitive economies stand out for factors such as investment in innovation, diversified economic activities and supportive public policies.
Spain is ranked 39, three places lower than the position it has had in the past three years, due to the management of the pandemic and the persistence of some structural problems such as a lack of digitization or a high rate of youth unemployment.
The biggest rises in the ranking came from Jordan, where it climbed nine places to 49; Slovakia and Kazakhstan rose seven places to 50 and 35, respectively; Hungary, which rose five places, ranked 42.
On the contrary, the countries declining the most are Saudi Arabia and Poland, which lost eight places and regressed to the 32nd and 47th places, respectively; As for the Philippines, which fell seven places to 52; Canada, Chile and Peru, which lost six places and ranked 14th, 44th and 58th, respectively.
By region, East and Central Asia and Western and Eastern Europe rose in the overall ranking, while North and South America, Western Asia and Africa worsened. EFE
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