Global Competitiveness Report

The Global Competitiveness Report 2016-17 published by the World Economic Forum (WEF)

featuring the Global Competitiveness Index, the Report assesses the competitiveness landscape of 138 economies, providing unique insight into the drivers of their productivity and prosperity.

• India ranked 39th among the 138 countries in the GCI Report 2016-17. 
• It has jumped 16 places from its previous position of the 55th in the GCI report 0f 2015-16.
• Top 4 countries are
  • 1. Switzerland
  • 2. Singapore
  • 3. USA
  • 4. Netherlands

GCI defines competitiveness as the set of institutions, policies, and factors that determine the level of productivity of an economy, which in turn sets the level of prosperity that the country can achieve.

Since 2005, based on the Klaus Schwab’s original idea of 1979, the World Economic Forum has published the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) developed by Xavier Sala-i-Martín in collaboration with the Forum.

The GCI combines 14 indicators that capture concepts that matter for productivity and long-term prosperity.

These indicators are grouped into 12 pillars:

• Institutions,
• Infrastructure,
• Macroeconomic environment,
• health and primary education,
• higher education and training,
• goods market efficiency,
• labor market efficiency,
• financial market development,
• technological readiness,
• market size,
• business sophistication, and
• innovation.

These pillars are in turn organized into three sub indexes: 

• Basic requirements, 
• Efficiency enhancers, and
• Innovation and sophistication factors. 

The three sub indexes are given different weights in the calculation of the overall Index, depending on each economy’s stage of development, as proxied by its GDP per capita and the share of exports represented by raw materials.

The GCI includes statistical data from internationally recognized organizations, notably the International Monetary Fund (IMF); the World Bank; and various United Nations’ specialized agencies, including the International Telecommunication Union, UNESCO, and the World Health Organization.