Romania maintained its modest position in the ranking of the world’s most competitive economies in 2019, namely 49th out of 63 countries, according to the 30th edition of the report published by the Institute of Management and Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Romania fares better than Turkey (51st place), Slovakia (53rd), Greece (58th) and Croatia (60th), but lags behind Bulgaria (48th), Hungary (47th), Russia (45th), Latvia (40th), Poland (38th), Slovenia (37th), Estonia (35th), the Czech Republic (33th), and Lithuania (29th).

The 350 indicators that IMD aggregates to compile the competitiveness index are grouped into four categories, namely economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure.

Romania’s key attractiveness factors outlined by respondents to the poll were the skilled workforce, cost competitiveness, dynamism of the economy, and high education level. The criteria where Romania’s scores improved the most from 2018 to 2019 were public finances, bureaucracy, pension funding, transparency, and health infrastructure. This came as a surprise, given the tight labor market.

The criteria where Romania’s scores have deteriorated are the exchange rate stability, consumer price inflation, the time needed for setting a start-up, and the real growth of the gross fix capital formation. In other words, macroeconomic stability has deteriorated and investments declined.

editor@romania-insider.com

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