“World Competitiveness Index 2021”: India maintained 43rd position

What is the news?

World Competitiveness Index 2021 has been released by the Institute for Management Development (IMD).

Key Findings of World Competitiveness Index 2021:

• Top Rankings: Switzerland has topped the index. It was followed by Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands and Singapore.
• Asia: The top-performing Asian economies in order are: Singapore (5^th), Hong Kong (7^th), Taiwan (8^th) and China (16^th).
• The UAE and the USA remain in the same spots as last year (9^th and 10^th, respectively)

Key Findings Related to India:

• India’s Ranking: India has maintained the 43^rd rank in the world competitiveness index 2021.
  • In 2020, India was ranked 43^rd on the index.
• Comparison with BRICS Countries: Among BRICS countries, India was ranked second (43^rd) after China (16^th), followed by Russia (45^th), Brazil (57^th) and South Africa (62^nd).
• Performance of India:
  • Among the four factors, India made significant improvements in government efficiency this year. These improvements are due to the following reasons:
    • Relatively stable public finances (despite difficulties brought by the pandemic, in 2020 the government deficit stayed at 7 per cent) and
    • Positive feedbacks registered among Indian business executives with respect to the support and subsidies provided by the government to the private companies
  • But India’s performance in other parameters such as economic performance, business efficiency and infrastructure remained the same.
• Strengths of India: India’s strengths lie in investments in telecoms (1^st), mobile telephone costs (1^st), ICT services exports (3^rd), remuneration in services professions (4^th) and terms of trade index (5^th).
• Weaknesses of India: India’s weakness lies in the broadband subscribers (64^th), exposure to particulate pollution (64^th), human development index (64^th), GDP per capita (63^rd) and foreign currency reserves per capita (62^nd).

Qualities of higher-ranked countries

The report finds that

• Qualities such as investment in innovation, digitalization, welfare benefits and leadership, resulting in social cohesion, have helped countries to perform better. Thus ranked higher in competitiveness.
• Top-performing economies are characterized by varying degrees of investment in innovation, diversified economic activities, and supportive public policy.
• Competitive economies succeeded in transitioning to a remote work routine while also allowing remote learning. Addressing unemployment has been fundamental

Source: Business Standard

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