Mexico ranked 37th of 43 countries on a Mexican NGO’s International Competitiveness Index 2021.
That represents a two-place drop for Mexico, which occupied 35th place in the last ranking, and finds itself among a group of countries categorized as “low competitiveness.”
The Mexico Institute for Competitiveness (Imco) measures the ability of economies to generate, attract and retain talent and investment based on 85 indicators and 10 sub-indices. Norway topped the list while Nigeria was at the bottom in 43rd place, the only country considered to have “very low competitiveness.”
In five of 10 sub-indices Mexico fell in the rankings. Those were innovation, international relations, political system, society and environment. It improved its positioning under market conditions and economy.
Imco named health, energy and technological connectivity as factors that are limiting the country’s competitiveness and said the net decline in foreign investment and a fall in the trade freedom index have affected the attractiveness of the economy.
In terms of energy, although Mexico signed the Paris Agreement with the expectation it would generate 35% of its energy from clean sources by 2024, it only achieved 21% in 2019, slightly above last-place Nigeria at 18.8%.
In healthcare, Mexicans cover 42% of their costs. In Denmark, by comparison, citizens only pay 14%.
Problems in technological connectivity are best demonstrated by a dearth of mobile phone networks and a low penetration of technology in the financial system, Imco said.
Among Imco’s recommendations to improve competitiveness are reducing and modernizing government bureaucracy, improving training for police officers, strengthening analysis of evidence in trials, supporting small and medium sized business entrepreneurs, and better connecting the Yucatán Peninsula with the rest of the country.
Others suggestions are directing university education to the labor market, simplifying public university curricula, allowing domestic shipping in the Gulf of Mexico, widening lists for political candidates, designing a national system of care for young and old and the disabled, and redesigning clean energy certification.
Mexico News Daily
