Belgium has dropped eight places to 32nd in the annual competitiveness ranking compiled by the Swiss business school IMD.
The IMD list, compiled by the Swiss business school, ranks 70 countries according to their competitiveness, using economic data, but the ranking also takes into account factors such as education, legal certainty and innovation.
By way of comparison, in 2023, Belgium was still in 13th place.
Belgium is slipping back, particularly in the areas of 'infrastructure' and 'business efficiency'. In the 'infrastructure' category, Belgium received lower scores for basic infrastructure, technological infrastructure, education and scientific infrastructure. As regards 'business efficiency', the assessment of the country's labour market and the productivity of its economy has fallen most significantly.
IMD also attaches a number of recommendations to our score. The key measures are well known. These include, for example, keeping the wage cost disadvantage under control, a sustainable recovery of public finances, increasing the employment rate through activation measures, a simpler and more efficient regulatory framework, a reduction in administrative burdens and a cut in energy costs.
Singapore tops the IMD’s competitiveness ranking, followed by Hong Kong, Switzerland, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates.
