Ireland slips to fourth in world competitiveness rankings

Ireland has dropped two places from last year in a key measure of international competitiveness.

The country was ranked fourth of 67 economies examined by the Institute of Management Development (IMD) World Competitiveness Yearbook 2024, down from second last year.

However, when compared to countries in the eurozone, Ireland came out on top as the most competitive.

It is also the second year running that Ireland has placed in the top five economies overall.

Commenting on the fall of two places, the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council (NCPC) said the drop is the result of a decline under the economic performance pillar.

There, Ireland slipped from first place last year to 10th position this year.

The NCPC said this was a consequence of slowing Gross Domestic Product in 2023.

The yearbook also found that the measure of Government Efficiency has also fallen from third place last year to sixth in 2024.

The country’s ranking of Business Efficiency has remained unchanged and its infrastructure ranking has risen from 19th last year to 17th this year.

“Ireland’s position in the rankings demonstrates that, despite a relative slowdown in the rate of economic expansion, the Irish economy remains strongly competitive,” the NCPC said.

“As in previous years, small, advanced economies continue to dominate the top places in the IMD rankings.”

The NCPC added that Ireland’s ranking under the Business Efficiency pillar has shown significant variability over the past decade.

As a result it said two consecutive years with a strong ranking is a positive sign that Ireland is holding onto improvements made in this category.

However, under Government Efficiency, it said infrastructure continues to considerably lag other areas and remains the most significant detractor for Ireland under the rankings.

Ireland also performed relatively poorly under tax policy, falling to 21st position from 18th last year.

Topping the rankings overall this year is Singapore, which has risen three places on 2023, followed by Switzerland, which climbed one spot.

Last year’s ranking topper, Denmark, fell two places to third.

The IMD Competitiveness Rankings are based on over 256 separate indicators across four pillars.