South Korea Rises in IMD National Competitiveness Index

The Ministry of Economy and Finance announced on June 16 that South Korea ranked 23rd out of 63 countries in this year’s IMD national competitiveness index. The country climbed five notches in one year, the greatest improvement since 2000. In the group of 28 countries with a population of at least 20 million, South Korea rose from eleventh to eighth, the highest since 2002.

In 2016 and 2017, South Korea stood at 29th, the lowest since the global financial crisis of 2008. In 2019, it came in 28th. Its lowest ranking, 41st, was in 1999 and its highest ranking, 22nd, was in 2011 to 2013. This year, South Korea remained at 27th in economic performance, rose from 31st to 28th in government efficiency, rose from 20th to 16th in infrastructure, and rose from 34th to 28th in business efficiency.

In the assessment category of business efficiency, South Korea moved up from 36th to 28th in labor market, led by strengthened education and training and an increase in economically active population. In the subcategory of management practices, it climbed from 47th to 36th based on improved trust in executives, improved corporate crisis response and more use of information technology in the process of business. In attitudes and values, South Koreans’ exemplary response to COVID-19 raised it from 25th to 15th. Railway extension and more support for venture firms contributed to its improvement in the category of infrastructure.

Meanwhile, South Korea improved its ranking only to 46th from 50th when it comes to corporate regulations. In addition, its productivity ranking remained at 38th. This year’s chart is topped by Singapore, which is followed by Denmark and Switzerland. China and Japan fell six and four notches to 20th and 34th, respectively.