The United States knocked Hong Kong out of first place among the world's most competitive economies — fueled in part by the nation's faster economic growth, Bloomberg reported.
Switzerland-based IMD World Competitiveness Center placed Hong Kong second in its annual rankings, edging out regional rival Singapore, with remained in the No. 3 spot from 2017, Bloomberg reported.
The rest of the top five were the Netherlands, which moved up one spot, and Switzerland, which tumbled three slots amid a slowdown in exports and concerns about its potential relocation of research and development facilities, Bloomberg reported.
The rest of the top 10, in descending order, were Denmark, United Arab Emirates, Norway, Sweden, and Canada.
According to Bloomberg, the United States, which reclaimed the top slot for the first time since 2015, scored especially well in international investment, domestic economy and scientific infrastructure sub-categories while earning below-average marks in public finance and prices.
The renewed top ranking aligns with the positive growth over the past year, Blooomberg noted; the United States notched an average 2.9 percent in the four quarters through March, versus 2 percent in the prior period.
Bloomberg pointed out Austria and China both made impressive gains in the rankings of 63 countries: Austria moved up seven slots to 18th place, and China jumped five spots to No. 13.
Venezuela ranked as the worst economy, and Mongolia maintained its spot as second-to-last.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.