In the latest IMD World Competitiveness Ranking released on Tuesday, Hong Kong regained its status as the fifth most-competitive economy globally, climbing two spots from last year and topping the world for “business legislation”.
Since 2020, Hong Kong has oscillated between 5th and 7th place in the annual study conducted by the Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD).
The report this year highlighted Hong Kong’s performance from four key metrics. Its ranking in “economic performance” made a big leap from 36th to 11th place.
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In specific terms, the economic output of Hong Kong reached $382.1 billion in 2023, ranking 35th out of 67 economies. In per capita terms, the figure is much higher at 13th. Inward direct investment flows accounted for around one-third of the city’s gross domestic product in 2022, the top worldwide.
At the sub-factor level, the best performance was seen in “business legislation” and “international trade”, both the best in the world
In “business efficiency” and “infrastructure”, Hong Kong stepped up to 7th and 9th respectively. As to “government efficiency”, however, Hong Kong slightly slipped one spot to 3rd.
At the sub-factor level, the best performance was seen in “business legislation” and “international trade”, both the best in the world.
“Having taken into account a host of factors including objective data and business opinions, the IMD’s 2024 ranking continued to recognize Hong Kong as one of the most competitive economies in the world,” a government spokesperson said in a statement.
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According to the spokesperson, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s strong performance can be attributed to the staunch support from the central government, the SAR government’s measures to bolster market confidence, tourism and consumption, as well as its efforts to drive the development of strategic areas such as financial services, innovation and technology, and trading.
The ranking is led by Singapore, which climbed to the top spot for the first time since 2020, followed by Switzerland, Denmark, and Ireland
Hong Kong has also been embracing “green transformation and digital economy development, so as to expedite the formation of new quality productive forces and spearhead the high-quality development of our economy in the medium to long run,” the spokesperson added.
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The ranking is led by Singapore, which climbed to the top spot for the first time since 2020, followed by Switzerland, Denmark, and Ireland.
The Chinese mainland jumped seven places to 14th — its best performance since 2020. The United States ranked 12th, South Korea was 20th, and Japan came in at 38th.
