Previous Year Question

The World Economic Forum published the Global Competitiveness Report. It assessed the institutions, policies and structural factors influencing the productivity and long-term competitiveness of different economies.

The Global Competitiveness Index 4.0 consisted of 12 principal pillars:

1. Institutions

2. Infrastructure

3. ICT adoption

4. Macroeconomic stability

5. Health

6. Skills

7. Product market

8. Labour market

9. Financial system

10. Market size

11. Business dynamism

12. Innovation capability

The Global Competitiveness Report 2019 assessed 141 economies. In that edition:

• Singapore ranked first.

• The United States ranked second.

• Hong Kong SAR ranked third.

• India ranked 68th, with a score of approximately 61.4.

Why are the other options incorrect?

• The IMF principally publishes the World Economic Outlook, Global Financial Stability Report and Fiscal Monitor.

• UNCTAD publishes the World Investment Report and Trade and Development Report.

• The World Bank publishes the World Development Report and, at that time, also published the Doing Business Report.

• The publisher of the Global Competitiveness Report was the World Economic Forum.

Current position (2026)

In 2020, because of COVID-19, the WEF released the Global Competitiveness Report: Special Edition 2020. It did not issue the conventional GCI 4.0 country rankings; instead, it focused on priorities for economic recovery and transformation.

As of 2026, the regular pre-2020 Global Competitiveness Index country-ranking series has not resumed in its previous form. Therefore:

• India’s 2019 GCI rank should not be presented as its current rank in 2026.

• The 2019 report was the last regular pre-pandemic ranked edition.

• The 2020 report was a special edition rather than a conventional country-ranking exercise.

The answer to the original question remains the World Economic Forum, but its former annual ranking series is not currently operating in the same format.