Malaysia climbs to 15th in global competitiveness ranking

MALAYSIA has recorded its best performance in five years in the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking (WCR) 2026, rising eight places to 15th globally and re-entering the world’s top 20 most competitive economies following a strong two-year recovery.

The latest ranking, published by the Switzerland-based Institute for Management Development (IMD), places Malaysia at 15th position with an overall score of 81.91 points, up from 23rd place last year. The country has climbed 19 places since 2024, when it stood at 34th globally.

The improvement also strengthens Malaysia’s position within the Asia-Pacific region, where it now ranks fifth behind Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China, while outperforming Australia, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and Japan.

Malaysia’s performance was supported by strong scores across several of IMD’s key competitiveness pillars.

The country ranked fourth globally in Economic Performance, with a score of 78.41 points, placing it behind only the United Arab Emirates, Ireland and Singapore.

It also ranked 14th in Government Efficiency with a score of 71.58 points, while Business Efficiency improved to 16th place with 75.38 points.

Infrastructure remained Malaysia’s lowest-ranked pillar, though it still placed 33rd globally with a score of 59.76 points.

The report further noted that Malaysia is the second most competitive economy in the world among countries with gross domestic product (GDP) per capita below US$20,000, behind only China.

In the category of economies with populations exceeding 20 million, Malaysia ranked fifth globally, trailing Taiwan, the United States, China and Saudi Arabia.

At the global level, Singapore reclaimed the top position in the 2026 ranking, followed by Hong Kong in second place. Switzerland slipped to third, while Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates completed the top five.

The IMD World Competitiveness Ranking evaluates 70 economies worldwide based on four main pillars: Economic Performance, Government Efficiency, Business Efficiency and Infrastructure.

Published annually by IMD, the ranking is widely regarded as one of the most comprehensive global benchmarks of economic competitiveness, assessing an economy’s ability to generate and sustain a business-friendly environment that supports long-term prosperity. - June 18, 2026