Kazakhstan ranked 35th in the 2021 IMD World Competitiveness Ranking

On 17th of June 2021, the World Competitiveness Center of the International Institute for Management Development (IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland) announced the results of the 2021 World Competitiveness Ranking.

According to the results of the 2021 study, the Republic of Kazakhstan ranked 35th by rising seven points higher compared to the 2020.

The IMD ranking is the result of a comprehensive study that assesses factors such as Economic Performance, Government Efficiency, Business Efficiency and Infrastructure.

In 2021, 64 countries around the world participated in the ranking. Switzerland topped the ranking this year, rising from 3rd to top spot. The most competitive countries remain Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and Singapore.

According to the results of the 2021 study, the Republic of Kazakhstan ranked 35th by rising seven points higher compared to the 2020.

Kazakhstan is ahead of such countries as Portugal (36th place), Indonesia (37th place) Latvia (38th place), Spain (39th place), Italy (41st place), Russia (45th place) and Turkey (51st place).  

Kazakhstan's positions in the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking 2021

This year, Kazakhstan has improved its position in all the factors.

Thus, Kazakhstan ranked 45th in the “Economic Performance” factor by rising three points higher. The improvement is due to increased positions in all 5 sub-factors: “Domestic Economy” – 37th place (improved by 4 points), “International Trade” – 58th place (improved by 2 points), “International Investment” – 47th place (improved by 1 points), “Employment” – 24th place (improved by 9 points) and “Prices” – 13th place (improved by 3 points).

According to the “Government Efficiency” factor, Kazakhstan improved its position by eight points and ranked 21st. The improvement is due to increased positions in all 5 sub-factors: “Public Finance” – 19th place (improved by 4 points), “Tax Policy” – 5th place (improved by 11 points), “Institutional Framework” – 46th place (improved by 4 points), “Business Legislation” – 25th place (improved by 3 points) and “Societal Framework” – 29th place (improved by 9 points).

Kazakhstan ranked 28th in the “Business Efficiency” factor by rising six points higher. The improvement is due to increased positions in 4 sub-factors: “Labor Market” – 20th place (improved by 12 points), “Finance” – 46th place (improved by 1 point), “Management Practices” – 13th place (improved by 6 points), “Attitudes and Values” – 23rd place (improved by 6 points). The decrease in positions is noted in the sub-factor “Productivity and Efficiency” – 43rd place (decreased by 3 points).

According to the “Infrastructure” factor, Kazakhstan improved its position by four points and ranked 47th. The improvement is due to increased positions in 3 sub-factors: “Basic Infrastructure” – 25th place (improved by 6 points), “Scientific Infrastructure” – 57th place (improved by 1 point), “Health and Environment” – 55th place (improved by 2 points). 

According to respondents, the five most attractive factors of the economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan are business-friendly environment (60.0% of respondents), the dynamism of the economy (46.4%), access to financing (45.5%), policy stability & predictability (42.7%), and a competitive tax regime (40.9%).

The Republic of Kazakhstan hast started to participate in IMD ranking in 2008. 

The Economic Research Institute, JSC is an exclusive partner of IMD in Kazakhstan.

For reference: The World Competitiveness Yearbook contains 335 criteria, 2/3 of which are based on hard data statistics and 1/3 on survey data.

More detailed results of the ranking can be found on the official website of the International Institute for Management Development.