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Switzerland ousted as world’s most competitive country

Houses and a bridge with padlocks
Denmark has an ambitious environmental policy and benefits from being a small country on the European market according to the IMD report. © Keystone/Salvatore Di Nolfi

Switzerland has lost its top spot in the latest World Competitiveness ranking compiled by the Lausanne-based IMD business school.

Among the reasons for the drop are Switzerland’s comparatively high prices and the weakening economic efficiency during the Covid pandemic, according to the reportExternal link published on Wednesday.

However, Switzerland fared particularly well in government efficiency and quality of technical infrastructure compared with its peers.

Denmark was awarded first place in 2022 ahead of Switzerland, Singapore, Sweden, Hong Kong and the Netherlands.

It is the first time in the 34 years that the Swiss-based school gave the Nordic country the lead in the annual competitiveness report.

“Denmark is the most digitally advanced country in the world and now takes the top spot thanks to good policies, advantages afforded by being a European country, a clear focus on sustainability and a push from its agile corporate sector,” IMD’s Arturo Bris in a statement. 

The report notes that inflationary pressures were having a greater impact on businesses than concerns about greenhouse gas emission and the widening gap between the rich and the poor.

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