The UK’s economic performance received some rare kudos yesterday when it was announced the UK is the eighth most competitive country in the world according to the World Economic Forum (WEF). This was an improvement on its position of 10th last year, which WEF confirmed as showing the UK was “settling back in the top 10” after a period outside. It was also the highest ranking of the century. 12 elements are assessed by the survey, such as the state of health and education systems and levels of infrastructural development. The major strength of the UK economy, the WEF highlighted, was its labour market, which enables companies to employ and lay off workers efficiently and easily. However, a ‘problematic’ issue for UK businesses was the ability to access external sources of business finance, WEF said. The home of the WEF, Switzerland, was top of the pile, whilst southern eurozone economies unsurprisingly slipped down the rankings, with Portugal and Greece 49th and 96th respectively.
In partnership with...
