Australia continues to have a globally competitive business environment, ranking 22nd out of 138 economies worldwide in the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2016 Global Competitiveness Report[1]
Among countries with a population of more than 20 million, Australia ranks eighth after the US, Germany, UK, Japan and France. Compared to East Asia and the Pacific region generally, Australia also ranked higher on average in all 12 index pillars[2].
Signalling strong economic performance, Australia has moved up five places for ‘macroeconomic environment’, as the WEF found that Australia’s general government budgetary position and debt ratios (as a percentage of GDP) are generally better than those of many major economies.
Australia’s stability, transparency and ease of doing business outperformed many other developed countries in ‘Financial market development’, ‘Higher education and training’, and ‘Health and primary education’.
The results reflect confidence in Australian banks and securities exchanges, and the quantity and quality of education and health services.
Although the WEF has identified that competitiveness is being threatened by a global trend towards declining openness, Australia scored well in ‘Prevalence of foreign ownership’ and ‘Burden of customs procedures’ – two factors that affect global openness and competitiveness.
Australia’s strong economic performance is also reflected in its results in other leading global reports. Australia is ranked fifth by the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Business Environment Rankings. The World Bank ranks Australia 13th for ‘Ease of Doing Business’ and also ranks the nation highly for political stability compared to other developed countries.
[1] The WEF’s Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) for 2016–17 defines competitiveness as the set of institutions and policies and factors that determine the productivity of a country. Scores are calculated using quantitative data and qualitative data based on a survey of 14,000 business executives.
[2] GCI scores are based on country level data covering 12 pillars of competitiveness: ‘Institutions’, ‘Infrastructure’, ‘Macroeconomic environment’, ‘Health and primary education’, ‘Higher education and training’, ‘Goods market efficiency’, ‘Labour market efficiency’, ‘Financial market development’, ‘Technological readiness’, ‘Market size’, ‘Business sophistication’ and ‘Innovation’.
Source: Australian Trade Investment Commission, https://www.austrade.gov.au/international/invest/investor-updates/2016/australia-competitive-in-financial-market-development-education-and-health-wef-2016-report
