The 2023 World Competitiveness Ranking (WCR), published by IMD’s World Competitiveness Centre (WCC), places Ireland as the second most competitive economy behind Denmark in first place. Ireland rises sharply from eleventh to second, and Switzerland drops one place to third.

This is the 35th edition of the annual ranking and report, covering 64 global economies via a mixture of hard data – 164 competitiveness criteria selected as a result of comprehensive research using economic literature, international, national, and regional sources, and feedback from the business community, government agencies, and academics – as well as 92 survey questions answered by 6,400 senior executives.

Countries are ranked from the most to the least competitive and benchmarked in 4 areas:

1.    Economic Performance (Ireland 1st)  
2.    Government Efficiency (Ireland 3rd)
3.    Business Efficiency (Ireland 3rd)
4.    Infrastructure (Ireland 19th) 

Commenting on today’s ranking, IDA CEO Michael Lohan said, “The WCR is an important indicator of how Ireland compares to other countries in terms of our competitiveness and how we compete for foreign direct investment. The fact that we have risen to second in the rankings demonstrates that Ireland punches well above its weight in attracting multinational companies to invest here and this is very welcome news.” 

“Ireland is an established top tier investment location for multinationals who choose us because of our consistent, stable, pro-business landscape, our high level of education, our ability to attract and retain talent, and the flexibility of our skilled workforce. These attributes cannot be taken for granted however, and we need to continue to build our capability particularly in the areas of digitalisation, sustainability and innovation, to ensure we stay at the top of the world rankings.”

“While there has been a slight improvement in Ireland’s Infrastructure ranking, this is one area where we need further advancements. We will continue to work closely with Government and utility providers to ensure we have the necessary national infrastructure provision, which is critical to support our entire enterprise base both now and into the future. This will be a key priority for IDA Ireland as part of our forward planning”.

You can read the report here