Vietnam is the country whose score improved the most globally (+3.5), with its stronger performance attributed to trade diversion due to global trade tensions, the report noted.
The World Economic Forum defines competitiveness as the set of institutions, policies and factors that determine the level of productivity of a country.
With a score of 84.8 (+1.3), Singapore is the world’s most competitive economy in 2019, overtaking the United States, which falls to second place.
The Southeast Asian country ranks first in terms of infrastructure, health, labour market functioning and financial system development.
The United States may have lost out to Singapore overall, but the country remains an innovation powerhouse, ranking 1st on the business dynamism pillar, 2nd on innovation capability, and 1st for finding skilled employees.
The remaining economies in the top five are Hong Kong (China), the Netherlands and Switzerland.
According to the report, Asia-Pacific is currently the most competitive region in the world, followed closely by Europe and North America.
