Luxembourg is more competitive and is now ranked 21st in the world, according to The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010 released on Tuesday by the World Economic Forum. 

In 2008 The Grand Duchy ranked 25th and therefore has moved up 4 positions.  However the list also shows Luxembourg  behind such countries as the UK taking the 13th slot dropping one position, France staying still in16th, and Belguim climbing one position to 18th.

Although Luxembourg is ranked 21st, it must be noted that of all OECD countries it has the lowest GDP debt, placing the Grand Duchy in a very strong position globally.

The major new however is that Switzerland tops the overall ranking in the  World Economic Forum's report.  The United States falls one place to second position, with weakening in its financial markets and macroeconomic stability.   Singapore, Sweden and Denmark round out the top five.

European economies continue to prevail in the top 10 with Finland, Germany and the Netherlands following suit. The United Kingdom, while remaining very competitive, has continued its fall from last year, moving down one more place this year to 13th, mainly attributable to continuing weakening of its financial markets. However Luxembourg has climbed to 21st  position still behind  France, Austria and Belgium, but ahead of Ireland, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

The People’s Republic of China continues to lead the way among large developing economies, improving by one place this year, solidifying its position among the top 30.   Among the three other large BRIC economies, Brazil and India also improve, while Russia falls by 12 places.   Several Asian economies perform strongly with Japan, Hong Kong SAR, Republic of Korea and Taiwan, China also in the top 20. In Latin America, Chile is the highest ranked country, followed by Costa Rica and Brazil.

A number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa region are in the upper half of the rankings, led by Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Tunisia, with particular improvements noted in the Gulf States, which continue their upward trend of recent years. In sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa, Mauritius and Botswana feature in the top half of the rankings, with a number of other countries from the region measurably improving their competitiveness.

Xavier Sala-i-Martin, Professor of Economics, Columbia University, USA, and co-author of the Report stated, “Amid the present crisis, it is critical that policy-makers not lose sight of long-term competitiveness fundamentals amid short-term urgencies. Competitive economies are those that have in place factors driving the productivity enhancements on which their present and future prosperity is built. A competitiveness-supporting economic environment can help national economies to weather business cycle downturns and ensure that the mechanisms enabling solid economic performance going into the future are in place.”

To see the full list of counties in a PDF report: Click here to download