World Economic Forum says Switzerland is most competitive country in the world. According to the World Economic Forum's most recent global report, Switzerland is still the most competitive country in the world. Singapore is in second place, whilst the United States has climbed from fifth to third place. Innovation, talent development and governance are still decisive factors in competitiveness, according to the Forum. Overall, the Forum warns that, “the global economy is in danger”. It argues that insufficient progress has been achieved in the adoption of the structural reforms needed for long-term economic growth. The study was carried out among 15,000 company directors in 144 countries. The league table was drawn up by calculating a series of 114 different indicators distributed across 12 different areas: (1) institutions, (2) infrastructure, (3) macro-economic environment, (4) health and primary education, (5) higher education and training, (6) goods market efficiency, (7) labour market efficiency, (8) financial market development, (9) technology, (10) market size, (11) business sophistication, and (12) innovation. The aim is to provide an insight into the drivers encouraging productivity and prosperity. Thanks to Switzerland's high-quality institutions, healthy public finances, attractive tax environment, the quality of its universities, the high level of spending in research and development and the close cooperation between the business world and education, the country is in first place for the sixth year in a row on the list of the most competitive countries in the world. The United States has moved up to third place, pushing Finland down into fourth, due to the continued quality of the US university system, the scale of its spending on research and development and the flexibility of its labour market. On the other hand, the low level of business confidence in policies and the general perception that the United States is wasting resources, weighs somewhat on the overall result. The weakness of the economic environment also ultimately affects the country's competitive edge. In Europe, the league table illustrates a persisting fracture between the north of the continent, which is more competitive, and the south and east, which are lagging behind. The competitiveness border, however, is increasingly located in countries' ability to implement structural reforms. The Forum welcomes the efforts made by Spain, Greece and Portugal, which were seriously affected by the economic crisis and which have made, “significant progress in improving their markets and allocating productive resources”. Therefore, Portugal, which has regularly been outclassed over recent years, has shot up 15 places into 36th position by facilitating enterprise creation and introducing greater flexibility on its labour markets. Greece (81st place) has climbed 10 places and Ireland (25th) has climbed 3. Spain remains in 35th position. The emerging economies in the world have also experienced varying degrees of development: some of them have made progress, while others have moved backwards. Saudi Arabia (24th), Turkey (45th), South Africa (56th), Mexico (61st), India (71st) and Nigeria (127th) have all fallen in the ratings. On the other hand, China (28th) has moved up one position and remains by far the best economy among the BRICS. In Asia, South Eastern countries are the most dynamic: Malaysia (20th), Thailand (31st), Indonesia (34th), Philippines (52nd), and Vietnam (68th). In Latin America, Chile is in the lead (33rd), ahead of Panama (48th) and Costa Rica (51st). The Middle East and North Africa provide a contrasting landscape. The United Arab Emirates (12th) are in the lead ahead of Qatar (16th). In North Africa, Morocco (72nd) is on top. Sub-Saharan Africa continues to display impressive rate of growth (close to 5%) even though only three economies are in the first half of the rating: Mauritania (39th), South Africa (56th) and Rwanda (62nd). The league table of the ten most competitive countries in the world are the same ten countries making up this “Top 10” even though they have experienced different levels of development. Four of them remain in the same place, three have moved up and three down: 1) Switzerland (also in first place last year); 2) Singapore (also in second place in 2013); 3) US (fifth place in 2013); 4) Finland (third place in 2013); 5) Germany (fourth place in 2013); 6) Japan (ninth place in 2013); 7) Hong Kong (also in seventh place in 2013); 8) Netherlands (also in eighth place in 2013); 9) United Kingdom) 10th place in 2013); 10) Sweden (sixth place in 2013). The Top 15 of European countries is as follows: 1) Switzerland; 2) Finland; 3) Germany; 4) Netherlands; 5) United Kingdom; 6) Sweden; 7) Norway; 8) Denmark; 9) Belgium; 10) Luxembourg; 11) Austria; 12) France; 13) Ireland; 14) Estonia; 15) Iceland. (IL)