WEF: Chile is the region’s most competitive economy

In the 2019 version of the report, which measures the factors in productivity across 141 countries, Chile’s score increased by 0.3 percentage points, giving it 33^rd position in the ranking.

Despite an increase in its score, Chile maintained its 33^rd position for the second consecutive year in the Global Competitiveness Index, published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in conjunction with the Adolfo Ibáñez University (UAI).

In the 2019 version of the report, which measures factors in productivity across 141 countries by crossing statistical information with surveys of company executives’ opinions, Chile’s score increased by 0.3 percentage points to 70.5 points. As in 2018, Chile led the region, ahead of Mexico, Uruguay, Colombia and Costa Rica.

Out of the 12 pillars evaluated, Chile continues to take top place on macroeconomic stability along with countries that include Australia, Denmark and Finland. Last year, it climbed from 23^rd place in 2017 to 1^st place, with the maximum score of 100 points.

This pillar takes into account variables such as inflation and debt. The country’s other strengths include the product market and the financial system. On the former, it climbed three places to 10^th position while, on the latter, it dropped one place from the position it had taken in 2017, ranking 21^st.

By contrast, it performed less well on adoption of information and communications technologies (ICTs), the labor market and innovation capacity on which it scored 63.1, 62.8 and 42.4 points, respectively. Another variable on which it showed a deterioration was education and skills, dropping from 42^nd to 47^th, while, on health, it was down seven places to 37^th position.

Finance Minister Felipe Larraín emphasized that “the difference of 15 places between our country and the next one in Latin America (Mexico) clearly indicates that Chile is, by a good distance, the most competitive country in our region.”

To find out more about investment opportunities in Chile, see this article.

Source: Diario Financiero