UAE Advances To 7th Globally In 2024 World Competitiveness Report, Showcasing Leadership And Economic Strength

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, announced that the UAE continues to improve its global standing under the leadership of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The UAE's dedicated efforts have led to higher ranks across various global competitiveness indicators.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid stated, "In one of the most important global competitiveness reports issued by the International Institute for Management Development in Switzerland, the UAE moved up three places, reaching seventh place globally. The UAE is also among the top ten globally in more than 90 key and sub-indicators in the 2024 World Competitiveness Report."

He expressed gratitude to all teams in government, economic, and development sectors for their unified efforts towards the progress of the United Arab Emirates. Building on last year's achievement of entering the top 10, the UAE made a notable leap in the 2024 World Competitiveness report, advancing three positions to 7th place worldwide.

The UAE performed exceptionally across various pillars of the report, ranking 2nd globally in Economic Performance, 4th in Government Efficiency, and 10th in Business Efficiency. Mohammad bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs, highlighted that this continuous presence at the forefront reflects the UAE's status as one of the world's most competitive economies.

Al Gergawi attributed this success to the exceptional vision and wise leadership of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. He noted that their guidance has made the UAE a pioneering developmental model adaptable to ongoing global changes.

Hanan Mansour Ahli, Managing Director of the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre, praised the integration and governance of real-time data and statistics exchange between federal and local entities. Ahli stated that this achievement is due to dedicated teams committed to implementing the vision and directives of the government.

The World Competitiveness Report classifies countries based on four main pillars and 20 sub-pillars encompassing 336 competitive indicators across various economic, administrative, and social fields. These include government efficiency, education, and innovation. In this year's report, the UAE advanced in all four main pillars.

The UAE ranked among the top 10 globally in over 90 key and sub-indicators. It ranked 1st globally in 11 indicators including industrial disputes, labour force (%), employment (%), and household consumption expenditure-real growth. The UAE secured 2nd place globally in 9 indicators including tourism receipts, females in parliament, labour force growth, adaptability of government policy, and absence of bureaucracy.

The UAE ranked 3rd globally in 6 indicators including collected capital and property taxes, immigration laws, management of cities, and percentage of government budget surplus. It also achieved 4th place in 12 indicators including consumer price inflation, long-term unemployment, international experience, overall productivity (ppp), labour regulation, and balance of commercial services.

Continued Progress

The UAE also achieved 5th place in 13 indicators including GDP (PPP) per capita, quality of air transportation, energy infrastructure, graduates in sciences, start-up procedures, unemployment legislation, foreign highly-skilled personnel, national culture, unemployment rate and tax evasion.

First published in 1989, the IMD World Competitiveness report is a comprehensive annual report and a global benchmark on the competitiveness of countries. It offers insights into trends and a wealth of statistics derived from extensive research. The report analyses and ranks countries based on their ability to manage competencies for sustainable long-term value creation.

With inputs from WAM