Swiss business school IMD International has upgraded Israel from 54th to 51st place in economic performance in its IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2004. The yearbook is published annually.
Israel leads the world in the ratio of R&D spending to GDP, in the number of wireless handsets per capita, and in the ratio of government spending to GDP. Israel is in eighth place in per capita business spending on R&D, tenth place in total per capita R&D spending, fourth place in entrepreneurship, and fourteenth place in spending on wireless.
The IMD Yearbook rates 60 countries according to 323 economic parameters, based on economic data from business entities around the world, including the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce. The US heads the competitiveness rating, followed by Singapore, Canada, Australia, and Iceland. The last four countries on the list are Venezuela (last place), Argentina, Indonesia, and Poland.
Israel is in 41st place in real GDP growth, ahead of Austria, Norway, Italy, France, and Germany. In GDP in per capita dollars, Israel is in 31st place, behind Luxembourg in first place, and ahead of India in last.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on July 12, 2004