South Africa dropped from 37 to 64 on country competitiveness over 20 years
South Africa plummeted from 37 to 64 in the Swiss Institute for Management Development’s (IMD’s) world competitive rankings.
Every year, the IMD publishes its World Competitiveness Rankings, based on 333 competitiveness criteria.
The IMD defines country competitiveness as the extent to which a country is able to foster an environment that sustains the competitiveness of enterprises.
It highlighted that an economy’s competitiveness cannot be reduced to its GDP, productivity, or employment levels.
“An economy’s competitiveness can be gauged only by considering a complex matrix of political, social, and cultural dimensions,” the IMA stated.
It explained that economic competitiveness is synonymous with people’s quality of life, and governments play just as important a role as companies.
The Swiss Institute for Management Development has become the global leader in the field of economic competitiveness.
It takes a global, regional, sub-regional, economic, and people lens, using external hard data and the results of a home-grown survey of senior executives in 69 global economies.
Switzerland, Singapore, and Hong Kong have been named the world’s most competitive economies in the 2025 IMD World Competitiveness Ranking (WCR).
Canada, Germany, and Luxembourg achieved the most significant improvement in competitiveness among the top 20 countries.
While regional disparities persist, fresh momentum is emerging in Eastern Asia, Western Europe, Western Asia, Africa, and South America.
The IMD stated that government efficiency is becoming a cornerstone of long-term resilience. Efficiency encompasses agility, inclusiveness, and forward-looking policy frameworks.
Switzerland, for example, continues to lead globally in government efficiency and infrastructure, maintaining its first position in both areas.
“Strong currencies are emerging as an indicator of long-term success,” said Arturo Bris, Director of the World Competitiveness Centre (WCC).
“At the same time, the reorganisation of global trade networks is exposing how accessible countries have been acting in their best interests.”
South Africa plummets in world competitive rankings
South Africa continued to decline in the Swiss Institute for Management Development’s (IMD’s) global competitiveness rankings, which highlighted significant economic challenges.
In the 2025 report, South Africa ranked 64th out of 69 countries that were analysed. This means South Africa was the sixth least competitive country.
The 2025 report highlighted five specific weaknesses, detracting from South Africa’s competitiveness.
- High unemployment rate and lack of employment opportunities.
- Corruption and poor government effectiveness.
- Poorly located and inadequate infrastructure that limits social inclusion and economic growth.
- Rising public debt levels amid a shrinking fiscal space.
- There is a lack of decisive plans to revive the struggling economy.
These factors have caused South Africa to drop in the overall competitiveness rankings and compared to its international peers.
Simply put, South Africa’s poor government performance is causing significant damage to the economy and opportunities for its citizens.
The charts below illustrate the decline in South Africa’s ranking over the years.
South Africa’s world competitive rankings over 20 years
South Africa’s Competitiveness Landscape
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