Malta climbs six places in Global Competitiveness Index report

Malta climbed six places in the yearly World Economic Forum index on competitiveness, with Malta ranked at 41 out of 148 countries.

The index listed inefficient government bureaucracy, access to financing and the inadequate supply of infrastructure among the most problematic factors for doing business in Malta. On the otehr hand Malta scored highly in education and ports infrastructure.

The competitiveness index placed Switzerland at the top of the ranking for the fifth year running, while Singapore and Finland retained their second and third positions respectively.

Germany moved up two places to fourth and the United States reversed a four-year downward trend, climbing two places to fifth.

Hong Kong SAR (7th) and Japan (9th) also closed the gap on the most competitive economies, while Sweden (6th), the Netherlands (8th) and the United Kingdom (10th) all dropped in the rankings.

Malta ranked 37^th in the GDP per capita index, with $20,852. This placed Malta 17^th out of the EU28 above Portugal and the Czech Republic among others. 

In the scoreboard on the level of debt, Malta came in at 120, with its debt standing at 72.5% of GDP.

In the public trust in politicians index, Malta placed in the 44^th position, with a rating of 3.4 in a scale of 1 (extremely low) to 7 (extremely high).

In the corruption index, Malta scored 4.2, ranking 60^th out of 148 countries. The index is based on the frequency of extra payments or bribes paid by companies in relation to imports and exports; public utilities; annual tax payments; awarding of public contracts and licenses and obtaining favorable judicial decisions.

Malta also ranked at 60th in the index on favoritism in decisions of government officials. Malta scored 3.2 in the scoreboard based on favoritism granted by government officials to well-connected firms and individuals over policies and contracts. The score was based on a scale of 1 (always show favoritism) to 7 (never show favoritism).

Malta seems to have a liking for the 60^th place as it also came in at the same position in the transparency of government policymaking index.

However, in the burden of government regulation, Malta scored even worse, coming in at 86, just below Haiti and Swaziland.

Another sore point for Malta is the quality of roads, with Maltese firms rating Malta in the 91^st position. In contrast Malta scored highly in the quality of seaport infrastructure, where it occupies the 13th position.

Malta is also among the top placed countries in the quality of air transport infrastructure index, placing at 23^rd.

On the other hand, Malta came in at 19 in the scoreboard on the the costs imposed on businesses by crime and violence and 25^th in the index on costs imposed on businesses by organized crime. In terms of reliability of police services, Malta placed 33^rd.

Malta also scored highly in the index on the strength of auditing and reporting standards, coming in at 13 out of 148 countries.

In the scoreboard on general infrastructure, such as transport, telephony, and energy, Malta placed 36^th, however Maltese businesses rate the reliability of the electricity supply badly, with Malta placing in the 69^th position.

The education system in Malta is among the top ten in the world, placing 8^th although it placed in the 75^th position in terms of primary education enrollment rate (93.8%).