Canada drops spot to 15th in global competitiveness rankings
by Canadian Manufacturing.com Staff
Canada saw its largest improvement for 2014 on the financial markets pillar
OTTAWA—Canada dropped one spot to 15th place overall in the latest World Economic Forum’s global competitiveness index report for 2014–2015.
Released Sept. 3, the popular rankings also noted a strong drop in Canada’s infrastructure score from 12th to 15th place. Canada’s score dropped on seven out of nine indicators related to infrastructure, such as road and railroad quality.
“Canada must improve its overall competitiveness performance so that we can sustain our high quality of life and create opportunities for future generations,” Daniel Muzyka, president and CEO of The Conference Board of Canada, said in the Board’s analysis of the rankings. “Failure to do so will put pressure on our standard of living and the things that we, as Canadians, cherish, including our health care, education, and social security systems,” he added.
Canada saw its largest improvement for 2014 on the financial markets pillar, moving from 12th to 8th place.
Most notably, the U.S. advanced for the second year in a row—moving up from 7th place in 2012, to 5th in 2013, to 3rd in 2014.
Switzerland was ranked first for the sixth year in a row. It was followed by Singapore, the United States, Finland and Germany.
Rounding out the top 10 most competitive countries based on the index are Japan, Hong Kong, Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Sweden.
View the entire global competitiveness rankings report here.
