Mongolia ranked 60th in World Competitiveness Yearbook 2016

Mongolia has slipped three places to be ranked 60 out of 61 countries in the annual World Competitiveness Yearbook 2016, recently released by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) World Competitiveness Center.

The ranking, published annually since 1989 and considered the leading assessment of the competitiveness of countries, saw the USA (ranked 3) overtaken as the world’s most competitive economy for the first time in three years by China Hong Kong (1) and Switzerland (2).

Lakshmi Bojoo, Director General of the Economic Policy and Competitiveness Research Center (EPCRC) said that Mongolia is facing a number of challenges in the coming year to become a more economically competitive nation.

As identified by the EPCRC team in the ranking, attracting more foreign direct investment (FDI) is a significant challenge: by the end of 2015 the rate of FDI had decreased by more than 22 times compared to that of 2012.

This year the exchange rate against the USD is likely to weaken further, and improved infrastructure is needed across the country, although this is a process that will take some time.

Being selected to host ASEM 2016 however shows the confidence other nations have in Mongolia’s future direction.

In a year where a number of Asian countries suffered significant declines in competitiveness, mainland China dropped back three spots on last year to be ranked 25. Fellow neighbor Russia improved by one to be ranked 44.

“On the whole, there has been a significant drop in Asia’s competitiveness since our last ranking,” said Professor Arturo Bris, Director of the IMD World Competitiveness Center.

“This general decline has been caused by the fall in commodity prices, a strong dollar and the deterioration of balance sheets in both the private and public sectors.”

Additional information:

The World Competitiveness Yearbook 2016 was published by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) World Competitiveness Center on 30 May 2016. Mongolian data was provided by the Economic Policy and Competitiveness Research Center.

Over 340 criteria derived from four principal factors (economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure) were analysed to produce the rankings.

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For more information or interviews please contact: Yesuunuu.Kh at the Economic Policy and Competitiveness Research Center on 976-11-32 1927 or yesuunuu@ecrc.mn.

Further information on Mongolia’s results in the World Competitiveness Yearbook can be found on the IMD’s Mongolia profile website.

The Economic Policy and Competitiveness Research Center is a leading national think-tank that helps build a competitive Mongolia by using globally accepted research methodologies and advocacy. Learn more about our work at: