The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual report has revealed that Germany is among the top 10 economies in the world that are in the best position to recover from the crisis caused by coronavirus.

Global Competitiveness Report 2020

The annual Global Competitiveness Report by the WEF usually ranks global economies in terms of competitiveness and is meant to encourage policymakers to look beyond short-term growth and “aim for long-run prosperity.”

However, this year, the WEF has compiled a special edition of its Global Competitiveness Report “dedicated to elaborating on the priorities for recovery and revival.” Essentially, instead of ranking economies in term of competitiveness, they looked at which of the economies are in the best position to recover from the coronavirus crisis.

The report assessed and scored the global economies across 11 different areas that help establish which country’s economy is in the best position to recover. The 11 areas are:

• Strong and reliable public institutions
• Developed infrastructure and technology
• A progressive and competitive taxation system
• Expansive, accessible and innovative eldercare / childcare / healthcare
• Education that prioritises necessary skills for the future
• Facilitate the creation of “markets of tomorrow”
• Adaptable labour laws and social security system
• Incentivise long-term investments
• Incentivise investments into research, innovation and inventions
• Embrace diversity, equity and inclusion to enhance creativity
• Rethink competition and anti-trust frameworks to ensure local and international market access

Is Germany prepared for recovery?

Despite making it into the top 10 economies that are in the best position to recover, Germany doesn’t perform particularly well in any of the 11 categories. According to Saadia Zahidi, one of the reports’ authors and Managing Director at the WEF, “Germany still has to catch up, especially when it comes to the introduction of digital technologies.” It also scored particularly low when it came to digital skills among the country’s workforce.

Digital skills and advancement within the countries’ economies is an important factor in recovery, with the WEF concluding, “Countries with advanced digital economies and digital skills are more successful at keeping their economies going while their citizens work from home.”

However, despite Germany’s slow digitisation of its economy, Germany still comes in the top 10 when it comes to making working conditions more flexible and legal framework within the digital economy. It also scored fourth, behind Denmark, the UK and Switzerland when it came to adaptable labour laws and social protection.

Overall, across all categories, Germany was slightly above the average of all 37 countries involved in the study.

The economies in the best position to recover

According to this year’s report, the 11 economies that are in the best position to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 are:

1. Denmark
2. Finland
3. Norway
4. The Netherlands
5. China
6. Canada
7. New Zealand
8. Belgium
9. Germany
10. France
11. Israel

For more information or to read the full report, visit the WEF website.