The Republic has maintained its ranking of 22nd in an annual World Economic Forum (WEF) survey of competitive nations but has dropped two places in a key sub-index that focuses on the sustainability of competitiveness.

WEF's Global Competitiveness Index ranks 127 nations according to 12 "competitiveness pillars", with the Republic faring worst in infrastructure, where it came 49th.

Overall, the Republic scored 5.03 out of a possible seven but ranked poorly for innovation (4.8), infrastructure (4.03), and technological readiness (4.65).

In the business competitiveness index, which rates the quality of the national business environment, the Republic ranked 24th, down from 22nd position in 2006. The biggest drop related to an analysis of company operations and strategy. This looks at issues such as sophistication of production processes, investment in marketing, staff training and international trade links. The Republic's position here fell from 17th in 2006 to 22nd this year.

The report also finds that the Republic's wage rates are higher than are justified by our competitive position and the wage gap is deteriorating. Only the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Norway and Switzerland have worse rankings in this regard. Despite these issues, the WEF ranks the Republic as a nation that has overperformed economically given the competitive factors at play.

Dr Eleanor Doyle from University College Cork's department of economics - WEF's partner in the Republic for the survey - said that while the Republic was "holding its own" overall, our lower ranking in the business competitiveness index was of concern because this indicated the economy's "sustainability".

The US topped the index, followed by Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Finland and Singapore.

The rankings are calculated from both publicly available data and a comprehensive survey of business leaders.