Netherlands rises to fifth most competitive economy

The Netherlands has risen three places to once again sit in fifth place on a list of 140 countries that were part of the annual measure of global competitiveness, according to figures released by The Global Competitiveness Report 2015-2016, conducted by the World Economic Forum. Although the Netherlands has seen a relatively small but generalised improvement, its score was in part attributed to strength in the individual sectors. Education and infrastructure placed third and its institutions finished in tenth position while the Dutch economy placed a very respectable fifth for its sophistication and eighth for its innovation. The labour market displayed a relative weakness placing in seventeenth position and in this case received no help from the country's flexible wage determination which finished in a dismal 131^st place. It seems that the Netherlands has not yet recovered from its domestic real estate bubble which burst in 2009 and left the Netherlands with the highest household debt in the Eurozone and GDP levels below that of 2008. Improvement is also needed in the financial markets as the country’s score is still a full point lower than in 2007, the report says. Switzerland still tops the list followed by Singapore and the United States, with Germany sitting in fourth place.