Australia's overall economic resilience has been identified as one of its global strengths in IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, released on Wednesday.

The rankings compare and rank 63 countries based on more than 340 business competitiveness criteria.

Two-thirds of the criteria are based on statistical indicators and one third is based on a survey of more than 6000 international executives conducted in March/April this year.

The Australian results of the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook were released by its Australian Partner CEDA.

CEDA CEO Melinda Cilento said key strengths for the country included the resilience of its economy, which ranked at five, as well as its overall economic performance, which ranked at 14.

“If the recent federal election told us anything, it is that Australians value economic strength,” she said.

“These rankings show we have a very solid base.

“Our solid economic base and the new term of Federal Parliament provide the perfect opportunity to tackle key policy areas holding us back.”

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Source: IMD

Australia has climbed one place to 18 in a global ranking on the competitiveness of 63 nations, with the country having been ranked between 17 and 21 for the past five years.

It has not been ranked in the top 10 most competitive nations since 2011.

Ms Cilento said areas where Australia needed to improve its international standing included tax rates and GDP growth per capita.

“The government has pledged to address personal income tax rates, which is a positive for the economy and would likely improve our current competitiveness ranking from a lowly 43 on this measure,” she said.

“We are also performing poorly on the corporate tax rate compared to other countries, ranking at 55, down from 50 last year. 

“At some point, Australia needs to release this handbrake on business investment.”

“On an important indicator of living standards, real GDP growth per capita, Australia ranked at 43 and highlights we need to do more to lift productivity as a driver of growth and prosperity rather than relying solely on population growth.”

Overall, Singapore moved to the top ranking from third in 2018, overtaking Hong Kong (2) and the US (3), which lost the top spot. The top five was rounded out by Switzerland and for the first time, the UAE.

Click here for more information about the 2019 rankings.

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