Ireland has risen three places to become 17th in the world for overall competitiveness, according to the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook.
The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook has ranked Ireland in third place for availability of skilled labour and first for flexibility and adaptability of its workforce, first for its attitudes to globalisation and first in terms of investment incentives.
Ireland also made significant improvements in areas including government finances, growth and inflation.
More than half the executives surveyed for the report identified a competitive tax regime, skilled workforce, business friendly environment, and high educational levels as key attractiveness factors in Ireland.
The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook is reputed as being the worldwide reference point on the competitiveness of nations and studies 60 nations on the basis of 300 criteria and is based on hard data, statistics and executive opinions.
Ireland’s foreign direct investment landscape
“Ireland’s increase from 20th to 17th in the overall rankings in the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook is excellent news for Ireland’s foreign direct investment landscape,” said IDA Ireland CEO Barry O’Leary.
“Competition for foreign direct investment (FDI) remains strong and our ranking as third for the availability of skilled labour is very good news for Ireland as this is a key factor in attracting FDI.
“Ireland’s result in this survey shows that our country’s value proposition as a location for FDI continues to improve despite strong competition from other countries and on-going global economic challenges,” O’Leary said.
