Russia rises slightly in Global Competitiveness Report

Russia rose two places in the World Economic Forum’s most recent to #43 out of 138 countries (there were 144 countries in last year’s rankings).

The increase is in part due to strengthened fundamentals, reported the US-Russia Business Council citing the Forum website, with Russia rising six spots to #32 in the quality and quantity of education and 12 spots to #78 for innovation capacity in addition to an improved business environment.

The World Economic Forum noted that Russia has been able to weather the low oil price environment better than some of its peers due to effective policies such as exchange rate flexibility, limited fiscal stimulus and regulatory forbearance.

However, Russia fell 51 spots to #91 in Macroeconomic Environment this year due mainly to the oil price slump, high inflation and financial sanctions. Russia continues to lag in important indicators such as in Institutions (#88), Competition (#100), Burden of Government Regulations (#103), Financial Market Development (#108), and Property Rights (#122), but is trending upward in most of these categories.

The Forum identified the key challenges to doing business in Russia, including inflation, tax rates, corruption, access to financing, and tax regulations.

Russia ranks above Brazil (#81) and South Africa (#47) but below China (#28) and India (#39) and one spot ahead of Italy.

Number one in this year’s Report is Switzerland, followed by Singapore and the United States.