Geneva,Sept.26, 2006 (WAM) - Switzerland, Finland and Sweden are the world's most competitive economies according to The Global Competitiveness Report 2006-2007, released today by the World Economic Forum. Denmark, Singapore, the United States, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom complete the top ten list, but the United States shows the most pronounced drop, falling from first to sixth.

?The top rankings of Switzerland and the Nordic countries show that good institutions and competent macroeconomic management, coupled with world-class educational attainment and a focus on technology and innovation, are a successful strategy for boosting competitiveness in an increasingly complex global economy. Business activity in these countries benefits from a well-developed institutional framework, characterized by the rule of law, an efficient judicial system and high levels of transparency and accountability within public institutions. Excellent infrastructure is an additional positive feature of the business environment.

Our indicators point to the rapidly growing importance of higher education and training as engines of productivity growth. Countries that, like the Nordics, are investing heavily in education are likely to see rising levels of income per capita, growing success in reducing poverty and an increasing ability to establish a presence in the global economy, said Augusto Lopez-Claros, Chief Economist and Director of the World Economic Forum?s Global Competitiveness Network.

The rankings are drawn from a combination of publicly available hard data and the results of the Executive Opinion Survey, a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum, together with its network of Partner Institutes (leading research institutes and business organizations) in the countries covered by the Report. This year, over 11,000 business leaders were polled in a record 125 economies worldwide. The survey questionnaire is designed to capture a broad range of factors affecting an economy's business climate that are critical determinants of sustained economic growth. The Forum annually delivers a comprehensive overview of the main strengths and weaknesses in a large number of countries, making it possible to identify key areas for policy formulation and reform.

This year marks an important progression in The Global Competitiveness Report's methodology, with the adoption of a new, more comprehensive, tool to assess countries competitiveness: the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI). Developed for the World Economic Forum by Professor Xavier Salai Martin of Columbia University, the new index representing two years of collaboration with him and feedback from a broad set of users extends and deepens the concepts and ideas underpinning the earlier index used by the Forum.

The introduction of the Global Competitiveness Index is a logical extension of the World Economic Forum?s competitiveness work.

Changes in the global economy and the increasing complexity which characterize the business environment have made it necessary to develop an instrument that captures a larger set of factors affecting the evolution of economic growth. We are confident that this index, elegant in design and with a strong conceptual underpinning, will become an important tool for dialogue with policy makers and the business community on the key drivers of productivity, said Augusto Lopez-Claros.

?With the growing complexity of the global economy, The Global Competitiveness Report is a contribution to enhancing our understanding of the key factors which determine economic growth and will help explain why some countries are much more successful than others in raising income levels and opportunities for their respective populations. By providing detailed assessments of the economic conditions of nations worldwide, the Report offers policy-makers and business leaders an important tool in the formulation of improved economic policies and institutional reforms," noted Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.

Harvard Business School Professor Michael E. Porter presents the results of the Business Competitiveness Index (BCI), an especially useful complement to the GCI, with its emphasis on a range of company-specific factors conducive to improved efficiency and productivity, such as the sophistication of the operating practices and strategies of companies and the quality of the microeconomic business environment in which a nation?s companies compete.

The World Economic Forum continues to expand geographic coverage of The Global Competitiveness Report and with the current instalment featuring a total of 125 economies, this Report is the most comprehensive of its type. This year, coverage has been expanded to Angola, Barbados, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Lesotho, Mauritania, Nepal, Suriname and Zambia.

The Report contains a detailed country/economy profile for each of the 125 economies featured in the study, providing a comprehensive summary of the overall position in the Index rankings as well as a guide to what are considered to be the most prominent competitive advantages and competitive disadvantages of each. Also included is an extensive section of data tables with global rankings covering over 100 indicators.