SA falls nine places in global competitiveness ranking

South Africa fell nine places in the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 2010-11, coming in at number 54. The fall is attributed to other countries becoming more competitive, rather than South Africa slipping, however the end effect is the same. South Africa and Mauritius (55) are the top sub-Saharan countries. Switzerland was rated the most competitive country for the second year, with the United States falling two places to fourth position, overtaken by Sweden (2nd) and Singapore (3rd), after already ceding the top place to Switzerland last year. The report ranks 139 countries by assessing business efficiency, innovation, financial markets, health, education, institutions, infrastructure and other factors. Unsurprisingly, China at 27th rose by two places. Other strong Asian economies are Japan (6th) and Hong Kong (11th). South Africa is well placed among the BRIC economies, with Brazil (58th), India (51st) and Russia (63rd). Several countries from the Middle East and North Africa region occupy the upper half of the rankings, led by Qatar (17th), Saudi Arabia (21st), Israel (24th), United Arab Emirates (25th), Tunisia (32nd), Kuwait (35th) and Bahrain (37th), with most Gulf States continuing their upward trend of recent years. In Latin America, Chile (30th) is the highest ranked country, followed by Panama (53rd) Costa Rica (56th) and Brazil. The United Kingdom has moved up the list by one place to 12th position. One of the surprises is that Zimbabwe this year was the best performing country in terms of inflation, with Ethiopia the worst. South Africa ranked 109. Other factors bringing down South Africa’s rating were life expectancy (127) – which is directly related to “business impact on Aids” (138), and tuberculosis incidence (138). The “business costs of crime and violence” (137th), and the sense that the police are unable to provide protection from crime (104th) “do not contribute to an environment that fosters competitiveness,” says the report. Crime statistics released by national police commissioner Bheki Cele show that business-related crimes continue to rise.