Mexico ranked among countries with low competitiveness

Mexico moved from having low average competitiveness to a low one this year, falling two positions within the ranking of 43 countries analyzed by the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO), and with this, it registered its worst level since 2005.

Mexico ranked among countries with low competitiveness
Low levels of competitiveness. Image by 41330 from Pixabay

This year, Mexico went from having low average competitiveness to a low one by falling two positions within the ranking of 43 countries analyzed by the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO), and with this, it registered its worst level since 2005.

In 2020, the country was ranked 35th, but this year it fell to 37th place in the IMCO's International Competitiveness Index 2021. Since 2005, Mexico had remained at a medium-low competitiveness level, but in 2021 for the first time, it fell to the low competitiveness level.

"We crossed from this group of countries that are in a medium-low competitiveness and moved to a level of competitiveness that, according to the established formula, is already in the group of countries with a low competitiveness," explained Valeria Moy, general director of the Institute, during the presentation of the Index.

With this, Mexico is among the 10 least competitive countries among the 43 analyzed, along with Colombia, Peru, Turkey, Brazil, South Africa, Argentina, India, Guatemala, and Nigeria.

The International Competitiveness Index includes 10 sub-indices, among them the political system, which measures democratic legitimacy, representativeness, stability, and respect for rights and freedoms.

Another of the sub-indices is society, which assesses the quality of life of the inhabitants through three areas: inclusion, education, and health. Meanwhile, international relations measures the degree to which a country's relationship with the outside world is capitalized.

In addition to the 10 sub-indices, the Index has 85 indicators that are considered to divide the competitiveness of countries into six groups: high, adequate, medium-high, medium-low, low, low, and very low.

Countries with low competitiveness are those whose scores are between one and two standard deviations below the average, explained Moy. Meanwhile, those with high competitiveness are those with a score that is two or more standard deviations above the average.

Mexico showed its biggest drop in the international relations sub-index, going from 30th to 40th place, while in the society and political system sub-index it fell two positions. In contrast, in the economy sub-index, the country rose four positions from 31st to 27th place.

Ivania Mazari, IMCO's Evaluation and Analysis Coordinator indicated that this was due to the fact that Mexico had a minimal economic increase in 2019 and, although in 2020 it had a drop of 8 percent, it was lower than that of other countries.

Countries with high competitiveness have an investment per economically active person of 29 thousand 167 dollars, while the average of the 43 countries evaluated is 13 thousand 739 dollars. In countries with low competitiveness, such as Mexico, it amounts to 3,14 thousand dollars.

"The 10 least competitive countries are also the most unequal; inequality is also related to many of the variables we are observing in this index," said Moy.