“It is crucial that Denmark is among the most competitive countries in the world if we want to continue to be among the wealthiest countries in the world. We are a small, open economy, and 775,000 Danish jobs depend on our exports. It is therefore excellent news that we have moved up one spot,” says Deputy Director General Kent Damsgaard, DI.
“Although our competitiveness has improved, the development of our exports is definitely nothing to boast about. In other words, we have much work ahead of us in order to successfully lift growth and prosperity in Denmark. IMD’s mapping of Denmark’s strengths and weaknesses can help identify the areas where we need to concentrate our efforts,” says DI’s Deputy Director General.
Denmark’s strengths include our good institutional and societal framework, with a high rule of law index, absence of corruption and great equality. In addition, we are good at green solutions, have motivated workers and show social responsibility.
Among Denmark’s weaknesses, IMD points to the country’s relatively weak growth. We have difficulty attracting investment from abroad and we have very high taxes. Overall, Denmark ranks only 26th in the category economic performance, and that is something that must be rectified, says DI.
“Denmark has many strengths, and yet we fail to properly reap the economic benefits. We are creating jobs, but our productivity growth should be higher. The task is therefore to make Denmark an even more attractive country for businesses to invest in,” says DI’s Kent Damsgaard, and points out that investments in new technologies and digitalisation are the key to increased productivity for many SMEs.
Denmark also scores low in its ability to attract highly qualified employees from abroad. Here Denmark ranks 18th, and according to DI, that is extremely bad news.
“More and more companies are reporting a lack of labour, and without the necessary hands and heads, we simply cannot fulfil the growth potential that our many strengths ought to give rise to. It is therefore crucial that businesses are given the best opportunities to find talented and engaged employees – also abroad, when that is necessary,” says Kent Damsgaard.
Facts:
IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2018
Each year, the international Institute for Management Development (IMD) publishes its World Competitiveness Yearbook.
IMD’s report benchmarks the performance of 63 countries based on 258 different criteria.
The scores of each country for all of the 258 criteria are aggregrated to create one overall index for competitiveness.
IMD’s list of the most competitive countries:
1. United States (4)
2. Hong Kong (1)
3. Singapore (3)
4. The Netherlands (5)
5. Switzerland (2)
6. Denmark (7)
7. United Arab Emirates (10)
8. Norway (11)
9. Sweden (9)
10. Canada (12)
11. Luxembourg (8)
12. Ireland (6)
13. China (18)
14. Qatar (17)
15. Germany (13)
Last year’s position in parentheses
Source: IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2018
For more information, please contact press coordinator Jonas Forup Stubkjær, +45 2830 1544, jofs
di.dk
