The Celtic Tiger has been awarded another stripe, ranking 11th in a new league table of the world's most competitive economies, ahead of Japan and Britain.
"Ireland continues to be the tiger of Europe with an attractive policy that has generated staggering growth over the past three years," said Prof Stephane Garelli, project director of the Swiss economic think-tank which produces the annual table.
The International Institute of Management Development uses 259 criteria to rank 46 industrialised countries in terms of competitiveness. The criteria cover domestic economy, internationalisation, government, finance, infrastructure, management, science and technology, and people. The table is intended to highlight those countries which are best at providing conditions for businesses to be competitive.
Ireland ranked 15th last year, a position now held by Australia. Britain ranked 11th last year but has slipped one place. Japan, which held 9th place last year, has slipped to 18th, reflecting a "complete disarray of the economy," the institute said in an advance copy of the report.
Top of the competitiveness charts is the US, followed by the so-called "tiger economies" of the Far East, Singapore and Hong Kong, which still rank highly despite their recent difficulties. The US held the same position last year and its status as the No 1 competitive economy is unlikely to change, according to the report. "Only a major stock market crash or long-term complacency could threaten the situation."
The top European country is the Netherlands, which ranks 4th in the table, up two places. "Robust growth, declining unemployment and innovative measures such as part-time work, highlight the Netherlands as the first successful example of a non-Anglo-Saxon country drastically reforming its competitiveness," Prof Garelli said.
Northern Europe, with strong pockets of growth, bettered its already firm record. Following in the rankings after the Netherlands were Finland, Norway, Switzerland, Denmark and Luxembourg, which moved to 9th place, up from 12th.
Sweden, down one to 17th, and Austria, down two to 22nd, were the exceptions in northern Europe. In Sweden, softer economic growth and a damaging tax system have led some companies to transfer assets abroad, which is hurting the country's competitiveness, the institute said.
France, weighed down by high unemployment, fell two spots to 21st, but "is making good progress in opening its economy." Germany, also with a high jobless rate, stayed at 14th place.
The south-east Asian countries battered most brutally by falling stock and currency markets all fared worse, with Thailand toppling 10 places to 29th position and South Korea dropping five places to 35th.
