New Zealand’s world competitiveness ranking

Given the components that make up the competitiveness score it is unlikely that New Zealand could ever aspire to be top of the rankings. Our remoteness and size of domestic market are always going to count against us. But there are actions we could take to lift our relative score and climb a few notches.

If New Zealand wants to improve its ranking – what should it do?

A comparison with our neighbours across the ditch, just a few points higher, and Singapore, 2019’s #1 (which has a population almost on a par with ours), might be instructive. Where are we behind and can take steps to improve?

We need to remember that these are rankings and not an absolute score, nevertheless, the scores highlight where New Zealand should focus. The following table highlights Infrastructure as the first place we need to examine and take steps to improve.

Moreover, the tyranny of distance should not be an impediment. Why should New Zealand be behind Australia in health and environment?

There is a need to delve into how some of the Business Efficiency indicators are calculated. On one hand we score well against Australia when it comes to Management Practices and yet fall well behind in Productivity and Efficiency.

Time to investigate – are we being efficient and productive in our investments in health, education, and basic infrastructure?

Source: IMD World Competitiveness Center