Heather Humphreys, Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, welcomed the rise in Ireland’s position in the latest rankings of the IMD Competitiveness Yearbook. It shows that Ireland’s competitiveness ranking has improved by five places this year and Ireland is now 7h most competitive out of 63 economies, as benchmarked by the IMD. Ireland’s competitiveness performance has improved considerably since 2012, following a decrease last year.
The IMD’s World Competitiveness Yearbook is an internationally renowned publication which assesses countries across the globe using over 230 competitiveness indicators. It ranks and analyses the ability of nations to create and maintain a competitive business environment and as a result, foster prosperity and long-term value creation. It considers competitiveness using a mixture of quantitative and qualitative data.
Ireland improved its rankings from 2018 in economic performance to 6th place (up 5 places), Government efficiency to 11th place (up 2 places) and Business efficiency, to 3rd place (up 7 places).
Ireland’s improved fiscal position, high rate of productivity growth, and increased cost competitiveness have contributed to the rise in international competitiveness. This improvement is reflected in a range of metrics, notably economic growth, increased employment, falling unemployment and a strong trade performance.
Commenting on Ireland’s rise to 7th place in the rankings, Minister Humphreys said:
Improving Ireland’s competitiveness has been and continues to be an absolute priority for this Government and I am very pleased to see this reflected in the IMD global rankings.
The economy is performing very strongly. Our enterprise-based economy creating over 1,500 jobs a week and unemployment dropped to 4.6 per cent in April, the lowest level since 2005.
Nevertheless, the Government has not been resting on its laurels. At a time of strong economic growth and almost full employment, it would be easy to become complacent – something that happened during the boom years. This Government is determined to make sure that this doesn’t happen again.
It’s why we launched Future Jobs Ireland in March, a new whole-of-Government plan to answer the future needs of our businesses and workers. The plan is about preparing now for tomorrow’s world so that we can stay ahead of the curve and retain our competitive edge.
It’s also why we are investing €116bn in Project Ireland 2040 to sustainably plan for the future and tackle the deficits in our infrastructure arising from the lost decade after the recession.
And it’s why we are bringing forward the National Broadband Plan, among other measures, to ensure that rural businesses and people are not left behind in this fourth industrial revolution.
The Minister concluded:
While we are making very good progress, we are acutely aware that there are a number of external threats on the horizon, not least Brexit. As Minister, I will continue to prioritise policies that enhance national competitiveness and create the best possible environment for enterprise, innovation and investment across all regions.