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September 08 / 2011

Lithuania ranked 44th in the Global Competitiveness Report, up 3 positions

Lithuania has been ranked 44th among 142 economies worldwide in the Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012 announced by the World Economic Forum on Wednesday.

Lithuania has risen 3 positions according to the competitiveness index over a year; last year it ranked 47th.

According to the World Economic Forum’s experts, Lithuania has lagged behind the most innovative group of the innovation-driven 35 economies, and, together with Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Hungary, and other economies, has been attributed to the second group of 18 economies, which are in a transition from the efficiency-driven to the innovation-driven stage. Lithuania has been ranked 50th in the world in terms of its innovation level.

Lithuania continues to be favourably assessed in terms of the level of higher education of its citizens (26th in the world) and IT literacy (34th), while the greatest obstacles in seeking competitiveness, according to the experts, remain poorly developed financial market (89th), small market size (79th), and poor macroeconomic environment (73rd).

Experts have noted that Lithuania has low international trade tariffs (4th in the world) and flexible wage determination (8th), however there are complicated hiring and firing practices (117th) and high brain-drain (117th) in the country.

Estonia has retained its last year’s 33rd rank, and Latvia has risen from the 70th to the 64th place. Poland has fallen from the 39th to the 41st this year.

According to the World Economic Forum’s experts, Switzerland remains the most competitive economy in the world; Singapore has risen to the second place, while Sweden has fallen from the 2nd to the 3rd place.

The World Economic Forum has announced the Global Competitiveness Report for the fifth year in a row. Lithuania was ranked 53rd in 2009, 44th in 2008, and 38th in 2007.

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