Ireland moves up to 15th place in the global competitiveness rankings

Ireland at number 15 in overall global competitiveness rankings compiled each year by Swiss business school IMD

The country’s position has improved from 17th last year and 24th as recently as 2011.

Ireland is third in the world in terms of its image abroad and perception as a place in which to do business. It also ranked first in a number of sectors, including availability of skilled labour, flexibility and adaptability of workforce, attitudes to globalisation and investment incentives.

IMD notes that for most countries there is a strong correlation between the image rank and the competitiveness ranking but that Ireland rates much higher on this criterion than its competitive position would suggest. The business school puts together this closely-watched list each year to rate how well countries manage all their resources to increase their prosperity.

More than half the executives surveyed for the report identified a competitive tax regime, skilled workforce, business friendly environment, and high educational levels as key attractiveness factors in Ireland.

Welcoming the results, Barry O’Leary, CEO of IDA Ireland said:

“Ireland’s ranking of 15th in the overall rankings in the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook is excellent news for Ireland’s foreign direct investment proposition. Ireland in recent years has regained valuable competitiveness, while continuing to offer a strong skills base to prospective companies looking to invest here. This has helped to deliver a very strong FDI performance by Ireland.’’

The results of the survey for Ireland are available at www.imd.org/wcy