A few weeks ago, the World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) released its results, but it went largely unnoticed by the public. Only one newspaper featured it on the front page. Let me provide a summary of the findings.
The WCY is an annual report prepared by the International Institute for Development Management in Switzerland. It evaluates data from 64 countries and ranks them on a scale from zero to 100, with 100 being the best score. The rankings are based on four pillars: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure. Previously, the National Competitiveness Council monitored this report along with 11 other global competitiveness reports from 2011 to 2018 before its dissolution.
So, how did the Philippines fare in the 2023 report? The country ranked 52nd out of the 64 measured countries. This was a decline of four positions compared to the previous year. The Philippines’ best performance was in 2013 when it ranked 38th among a larger group of countries.
More concerning is the country’s ranking in the Asia-Pacific region. Out of the 14 countries covered, the Philippines ranked 13th, surpassing only Mongolia. It performed significantly worse than its ASEAN peers such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. This has been a recurring trend in recent years.
Among the four pillars, the Philippines improved its ranking in economic performance but declined in government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure. Economic performance assesses the macroeconomic evaluation of the domestic economy, while government efficiency measures the extent to which government policies support competitiveness. Business efficiency evaluates how well the national environment fosters innovative, profitable, and responsible enterprises. Infrastructure assesses the adequacy of basic, technological, scientific, and human resources to meet business needs.
These reports allow us to identify our strengths and weaknesses. For example, the Philippines performed well in real GDP growth but poorly in GDP per capita. In terms of government efficiency, the country ranked high in central bank policy but scored poorly in start-up procedures, bribery/corruption, and tax evasion. Business efficiency showed high scores in long-term employment growth but low scores in overall productivity, labor productivity, and access to financial services. In infrastructure, the country ranked well in high-tech exports and mobile phone costs but poorly in medical assistance, secure internet servers and communications technology, and universal health-care coverage.
While these reports are not perfect, they provide valuable insights and tools to address problems and enhance economic productivity. It is crucial to monitor a range of global competitiveness reports to track progress or decline in performance. However, since the National Competitiveness Council was dissolved in 2018, there has been a lack of regular monitoring. The exception is the World Competitiveness Yearbook and the upcoming B-READY report (formerly the ease of doing business report), monitored by the Anti-Red Tape Authority or Arta.
To truly gauge our progress compared to other countries, it is time to resume regular monitoring of global competitiveness reports.
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