Mexico falls in competitiveness ranking in Latin America
In the competitiveness ranking in Latin America 2021, , Mexico ranks in the bottom 10 of the table, along with the vast majority of Latin American countries.
Amid the pandemic, Mexico lost two positions in the World Competitiveness Ranking 2021 prepared by the Swiss institute IMD, going from 53 to 55, from a list of 64 countries. Mexico thus accumulates a drop of five places from 2019 to this year.
With this position, Mexico ranks in the bottom 10 of the table, along with the vast majority of Latin American countries, such as Colombia (56th), Brazil (57th), Peru (58th), Argentina (62nd), and Venezuela (64th). Only Chile is in a better position (44th).
According to the IMD, the decline in Mexico's competitiveness was due to the economic issue and the low level of government efficiency, due to the collapse of the Gross Domestic Product, higher unemployment, the growth of the fiscal deficit, as well as lower investment in research and development.
The top 10 were Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Singapore, Norway, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States.
In three of the four factors used by the institute for the evaluation, Mexico reported declines. In Economic Development it had the biggest drop, going from 38th to 49th place; in Government Efficiency it moved from 55th to 59th, and in Infrastructure from 57th to 58th. It only improved in Efficient Business, jumping from 48th to 47th.
José Caballero, the senior economist at IMD's Center for Competitiveness, said that the drop in the competitiveness ranking of Latin American countries was due to "the worsening of the economic performance factor, in indicators related to job creation". He added that "it is notable that all countries in the region showed a decrease in the factor that captures government efficiency," as well as aspects of pandemic management.
