Germany is slipping significantly in terms of global competitiveness

Germany no longer occupies a leading position in terms of competitiveness compared to other countries. In the new ranking of the World Economic Forum (WEF), the Federal Republic falls from third place to seventh place.

Germany is overtaken by Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Japan. Leader this year is Singapore, followed by the USA. China is still ranked 28th in the 141 countries surveyed in the WEF Global Competitiveness Report 2019.

Germany's economy is particularly gloomy with regard to information technology: with Internet connections via fiber-optic cable, Germany is in 72nd place and mobile broadband in 58th place.

In the innovation capacity category, however, Germany remains in the top spot. This concerns the number of registered patents or scientific publications.

Germany is still well above average

Macroeconomic stability, which takes into account inflation and debt levels, also has top marks. In terms of how well countries are adjusting to digital business models, only two of the top 20 economies end up in the top ten: the USA in first place, Germany in ninth place.

In the overall competitiveness index, the first countries are close to each other. Singapore comes in at 84.8 points out of 100, Germany 81.8. The average for all countries is 61 points, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo Yemen and Chad at the bottom.

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"The ditch in competitiveness is all the more worrying because the world economy is facing the prospect of a downturn," says the WEF report. "The changing geopolitical situation and growing trade tensions are fueling uncertainties and could lead to a slowdown in the economy."

The WEF competition report has been in existence since 1979, but the method has been refined time and again. Because a new evaluation procedure has been in force since 2018, it is not possible to compare it with previous rankings. The WEF assesses more than a hundred indicators of competitiveness, for example in the areas of the financial system, infrastructure, education or labor market conditions.