IMD World Competitiveness Booklet 2020

Sub-regional competitiveness trends: Overall ranking

Figure 1 presents the sub-regional overall competitiveness ranking trend for the years 2016 to 2020. Only Western Europe and South America achieved an increase in their competitiveness rankings; the other sub-regions experience a decline in their overall average positions. Eastern Asia remains at the top of the sub-regional rankings even though the average competitiveness

position decreased from about 17 th to 18 th , reversing a trend that had been present since 2016. Western Europe achieved the exact opposite. It had steadily decreased from 20 th position to 23 rd in 2019, only to return to somewhere like 20 th place this year. North America was in 19 th place in 2016, then sat at 21 st position for the next three years only to drop to 24 th place in 2020.

Figure 1. Sub-regional overall competitiveness ranking trends, 2016-2020

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

15

20

25

Eastern Asia Western Europe North America Southern Asia &thePacific Western Asia & Africa Eastern Europe Ex-CIS and Central Asia South America

30

35

40

45

50

Average Competitiveness ranking 1-63

55

60

21

IMD WORLD COMPETITIVENESS BOOKLET 2020