Saudi Arabia advances to 13th rank in 2026 World Competitiveness Yearbook

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's flag

Saudi Arabia climbed four places to rank 13th globally in the 2026 World Competitiveness Yearbook published by the IMD Competitiveness Center, up from 17th place in 2025.

Accordingly, the Kingdom moved four places forward, driven by stronger performance across all four main pillars of the report — economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure — as well as gains in 15 of the report’s 20 sub-factors.

The Kingdom ranked third among G20 countries, which reflects the continued improvement in its global competitive position, especially in business environment indicators, the economy, and the efficiency of government policies.

Development in the four main pillars (2026):

Saudi Arabia achieved a strong performance across all four main pillars of the report — economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure.

Business efficiency

The Kingdom made great progress by entering the top 10, ranking ninth globally, up from 12th in 2025.

Economic performance

The Kingdom jumped to 12th place globally, up from 17th in 2025.

Government efficiency

The Kingdom's ranking climbed to 12th globally, up from 17th in 2025. This reflects improvements in indicators related to economic activity and the competitiveness of the local economy.

Infrastructure

Improvement continued in this area, with the Kingdom reaching 28th place from 31st in 2025. Saudi Arabia maintained the 34th place from 2022 to 2024.

Saudi Arabia Ranking by Sub-Factor

Saudi Arabia’s competitiveness profile was underpinned by ranking among the top 10 countries globally in seven sub-factors, most notably infrastructure, attitudes and values, labor market, domestic economy, management practices, business legislation and tax policy.

Saudi Arabia among the world’s top 15 countries

Saudi Arabia ranked 13th globally in the 2026 World Competitiveness Yearbook, climbing four places from the previous year and placing among the world's top 15 most competitive economies.

Singapore topped the global rankings after moving up one position, followed by Hong Kong in second and Switzerland in third, which slipped two spots. The UAE ranked fifth globally, while Qatar, China and Saudi Arabia placed 11th, 12th and 13th, respectively.

The World Competitiveness Yearbook is published by the Competitiveness Center of the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) and measures countries' ability to create a competitive environment that supports economic growth, business attractiveness, government efficiency and infrastructure development.

The report is based on four main pillars—economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure—which are further divided into 20 sub-factors covering economic, regulatory, managerial, human capital and technological indicators.

Saudi Arabia's rise to 13th place reflects continued improvements in the Kingdom's competitive environment, with all four main pillars showing progress. The results also highlight the Kingdom's strong standing in infrastructure, labor market conditions, business environment and tax policy, while indicating further room for improvement in areas such as health and environment, societal framework and education.

The 2026 ranking marks one of Saudi Arabia's strongest performances in recent years, with the Kingdom improving from 24th place in 2022 to 13th in 2026, underscoring a sustained upward trend in global competitiveness.