Ukraine shows improvement in the new 2017-2018 Global Competitiveness Report published by the World Economic Forum.
In the report published in September, researchers analyzed 137 economies ranking Ukraine at 81st place in the global competitiveness index, down by 4 points since 2016. The country received a 4.11 score this year out of seven points compared to 4.0 points in 2016. Switzerland remains as the leading country for several years in a row with a 5.86 score.
As the country has been dealing with Russia’s war against Ukraine in eastern Donbas, Russia’s Crimea annexation, the EuroMaidan Revolution, and internal corruption, the country bounced back and forth between 73rd place (among 144) in 2012 and its current position.
All of Ukraine’s neighbors apart from Moldova demonstrated better scores in the ranking, whereas data for Belarus is not available.
The report ranks Ukraine based on 12 categories and dozens of subcategories. For example, Ukraine has been placed closer to the lower end for categories such as macroeconomic environment (138th), financial market development (120th), and goods market efficiency (101st).
The worst scores Ukraine received were for the following subcategories: soundness of banks (135th), regulation of securities exchanges (134th), quality of roads (130th place), business impact of rules on foreign direct investment (130th), judicial independence (129th), protection of minority shareholders’ interests (129th), inflation (129th), effect of taxation on incentives to invest (129th), country capacity to retain talent (129th), and property rights (128th).
According to WEF, the top-5 most problematic factors for doing business in Ukraine: are inflation, corruption, policy instability, tax rates and tax regulations.
Ukraine received better results in the higher education category, ranking 35th with 5.1 points. It also received 47th place for its market size and 61st for innovation.
Overall, Ukraine’s highest subcategory index rankings are the tertiary education enrollment rate (16th), and the number of procedures to start a business (18th).
Explore the map to view the Global Competitiveness Index in other economies around the world.
