Parliamentary Research Brief – Australia’s Economic Competitiveness In Continuing Decline

In the 2000s, Australia consistently ranked as one of the most competitive economies in the world. But in recent years, Australia’s economic competitiveness has fallen behind.

The International Institute for Management Development (IMD) published its latest World Competitiveness Ranking in June 2023. The Ranking is a comparative assessment of 64 of the world’s major economies, published annually in the IMD’s World Competitiveness Yearbook.

In 2023, Australia ranked 19th, just behind the Czech Republic and Saudi Arabia—and far behind regional trading partners such as Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States (US).

Chart 1: Australia’s competitiveness ranking

A country’s overall competitiveness ranking is based on 256 criteria, which are in turn derived from statistical measures or surveys of experts. Economies with better competitiveness rankings typically have greater per capita economic output, higher business investment rates, and higher economic growth rates.