Britain, the 'envy of Europe', races up the competitiveness league
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Britain has leapt up the world competitiveness league as the privatisation and deregulation of the Conservative era finally pay dividends, according to a study published today.
In a finding that will give the last government bitter satisfaction, the annual competitiveness rankings published by the World Economic Forum show that the UK rose from 15th to 7th place in 1996, one of the biggest advances. Britain's place in the world rankings was one of the political footballs of the election campaign.
According to Fredrick Hu of the WEF, which organises the meeting of world political and business leaders in Davos each year: "The UK has become the envy of continental Europe."
He added: "What we see in the UK is an economy reborn out of sweeping privatisation, deregulation and other structural reforms, an economy that is now well poised to compete in the global economy."
But the annual review strikes a note of caution about growing income inequality, which has increased by more in the UK than most other countries. It notes that business executives in 49 out of the 53 countries covered judged that inequality had risen, but in general the high-ranking countries had suffered the smallest perceived increases.
The rankings are based on a mix of economic indicators such as tax rates and foreign investment, the quality of the infrastructure signalled by measures such as road density and the number of internet connections, and the results of a survey of business executives. The UK's advance reflects the importance the rankings place on factors like low tax rates and deregulation.
The report comments that Britain "has distinguished itself from the rest of Europe by retooling its social welfare state. It has slashed its top marginal tax rates and increased substantially its labour market flexibility."
Other big European climbers in the latest year are Ireland and the Netherlands. But the big European economies are languishing, with France unchanged at number 23, Germany down from 22nd to 25th, and Italy falling from 39th to 41st.
According to the WEF: "None of these countries has taken the painful but necessary measures to tackle their deep-rooted problems, which range from labour market rigidity to troubled fiscal policies."
At the top of the league table are two small but dynamic entrepot economies, Singapore and Hong Kong. They are followed by the US and Canada. With New Zealand at number five and the UK at number seven, the "Anglo-Saxon economies" make a strong showing, although this is perhaps not surprising given the assumptions behind the construction of the competitiveness index.
The newly industrialised Asian countries such as Taiwan and Malaysia also score high rankings. However, the report says their growth rates are slowing down as they mature.
It sees bigger potential in the big emerging markets like China and Indonesia, and to a lesser extent Brazil. China has climbed to 29th place in the 1996 competitiveness ranking from 36th in 1995, while Indonesia leapt from 30th to 15th.
At the bottom are two "faltering giants", the Ukraine and Russia. As well as a year of economic decline, they continue to suffer from high levels of corruption, unreliable enforcement of contracts and unreliable police guarantees of physical security.
But the survey results suggest that Colombia rivals Russia as the worst place in the world to do business in terms of governance. Respondents said bribery was commonplace, tax evasion rampant, organised crime widespread and the police force ineffective.
Global Competitiveness Report 1997
Competitive Ranking
1997
rank
Singapore 1 1 Egypt 28 29
Hong Kong 2 2 China 29 36
United States 3 4 Portugal 30 34
Canada 4 8 Belgium 31 25
New Zealand 5 3 Czech Rep 32 35
Switzerland 6 6 Mexico 33 33
United Kingdom 7 15 Philippines 34 31
Taiwan 8 9 Slovak Rep 35 N/A
Malaysia 9 10 Turkey 36 42
Norway 10 7 Argentina 37 37
Luxembourg 11 5 Iceland 38 27
Netherlands 12 17 Italy 39 41
Chile 13 18 Peru 40 38
Japan 14 13 Columbia 41 40
Indonesia 15 30 Brazil 42 48
Ireland 16 26 Jordan 43 28
Australia 17 12 South Africa 44 43
Thailand 18 14 India 45 45
Finland 19 16 Hungary 46 46
Denmark 20 11 Venezuela 47 47
Korea 21 20 Greece 48 39
Sweden 22 21 Vietnam 49 N/A
France 23 23 Poland 50 44
Israel 24 24 Zimbabwe 51 N/A
Germany 25 22 Ukraine 52 N/A
Spain 26 32 Russia 53 49
Austria 27 19
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments