Romania ranks 49th in this year's World Competitiveness Yearbook, with Switzerland, Singapore and Hong Kong occupying the podium, according to a press release from CIT-IRECSON - the Technological Information Centre - sent to AGERPRES on Tuesday.

According to the 2025 edition of the World Competitiveness Yearbook, Romania drops nine places in the 'Economic Performance' category (down to 56th), but rises four positions in 'Government Efficiency' (44th), four in 'Business Efficiency' (50th) and six places in 'Infrastructure' (45th).

Experts from the Technological Information Centre explain that Romania's decline in 'Economic Performance' is due to the overall sluggishness of the economy, reflected in macroeconomic indicators showing that the economic engine is running at a lower gear. 'Real GDP growth (0.8% in 2024), current account balance (-8.3% in 2024), inflation (5.6% in 2024), food costs (25% of household budgets spent on food in 2024), and youth unemployment (31.5% of young people seeking employment are unable to find jobs) are significant factors contributing to the decline in economic performance,' the release reads.

On the other hand, 'Government Efficiency' improved due to better institutional management and business legislation, with increases of 14 and 11 places, respectively. In this context, improvements were recorded in 'fiscal policy' (up three places compared to 2024), especially regarding tax collection, and in the 'societal framework' (up three places). 'All these improvements helped cushion the sharp eight-place drop in Public Finance, caused primarily by the budget deficit (-8.68% of GDP in 2024) and total public debt (57.44% of GDP in 2024),' the source also shows.

In the 'Business Efficiency' category, Romania climbed four places in the ranking due to improvements in 'Labour Productivity and Efficiency' (+9), 'Management Practices' (+5) and a more business-friendly 'Financial Environment' (+9).

At the same time, progress in 'Infrastructure' significantly influenced Romania's 2025 position, with notable increases across nearly all subcategories: a seven-place rise in Basic Infrastructure, five in Technological Infrastructure, nine in Health & Environment and four in Education.

'The results of the 2025 World Competitiveness Yearbook highlight the urgent need for Romanian society to undertake measures aimed at improving economic performance (where we lost 9 places in 2025) and to address at least three current challenges: inflationary pressures, total government debt and the current account balance. We also point out that the business environment is raising concerns about political instability and expressing fear over the potential failure of their enterprises,' CIT-IRECSON experts said.

CIT-IRECSON is accredited by the National Authority for Research and Development for conducting innovation and technology transfer activities and is a certified provider of professional training by the National Authority for Qualifications, in the fields of entrepreneurship, innovation and technology transfer.

The organisation is Romania's official partner of the IMD (International Institute for Management Development) World Competitiveness Center for the preparation of the World Competitiveness Yearbook. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Daniel Badea; EN - writing by: Adina Panaitescu)