France falls in competitiveness for another year

France has slipped in competiveness rankings, down two places since last year, with its job hiring and firing scheme getting the worst marks. Switzerland remains in the top position for the fifth year in a row.

Every year, the World Economic Forum puts forth global competitive rankings. Reuters/Pascal Lauener

The rankings, put forth by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, put France in 23rd place in terms of its global competitiveness, compared to 21st last year.

It’s an even larger drop from 2011, when France was ranked 18th.

The rankings are a result of studies of 15,000 company heads in 140 countries. The global competitive index was created in 2004 by the WEF, using around 100 economic factors.

While France slipped in the rankings, it was largely due to the rise in success of other countries – France retained its overall index of 5.1 on a scale of 7.

The country’s highest marks were related to inflation (1st), the quality of its road works (2nd) and the number of landlines per resident (3rd).

France slipped, however, in its labour market: in terms of boss-employee relationships, France ranked 135th, while its job hiring and firing practices put it at 144th globally.

Behind Switzerland in the overall rankings were Singapore, Finland, Germany and the United States.

Among the top ten most competitive nations, Japan moved up (9th) while Sweden and Holland lost ground.

Good governance and innovation remain the most important factors in WEF competitiveness rankings.