The 2017 edition of the World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) was recently published IMD Institute and raises two clear conclusions for Luxembourg.

If, on the one hand, the Grand Duchy celebrates its return to the top 10 countries in 2017 Competitive across all categories, with a very good 8th place in the world’s top performing economies among 63 countries, it must also be satisfied with a 20th place in the new sectoral ranking on the digital competitiveness of countries, now produced by the IMD concurrently with the WCY.

At the time of the “Third Industrial Revolution” and more generally of the digitisation of the economy and business models, this specific “digital” classification is welcomed in that it makes it possible to appreciate the forces of Luxembourg in this area, as well as the “stumbling blocks” on which the Grand Duchy will have to work to be, tomorrow, a champion and a precursor of the sustainable and interconnected economy.

Following the drop from 6th to 11th place between 2015 and 2016 appearing to be somewhat alarming, it is important to recall that in 2015 Luxembourg had benefited from a series of announcements of structural reforms in the fields of housing, public transport, etc. In 2015, these announcements were favourably translated into perception indicators – which are collected by IMD alongside statistical indicators – that were more in the opposite direction in 2016.

The ranking is led by Hong Kong (for the second year in a row), followed by Switzerland, Singapore, USA (its lowest position in 5 years) and the Netherlands (8th in 2016). The top 10 is complemented by Ireland, Denmark, Luxembourg, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates. Germany is in 13th place (-1), Belgium in the 23rd (-1) and France in 31st place (+1).