Current Status

On Track — Saudi Arabia ranks 16th globally and 4th among G20 nations in the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking 2024, representing a significant advancement from its 2016 position and reflecting the broad-based improvement in economic and institutional competitiveness.

Key Metrics

Trend Analysis

Saudi Arabia’s climb from approximately 36th to 16th in the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking represents a 20-position improvement that places the Kingdom among the most competitiveness-improved economies in the world over the past decade. The advancement is particularly notable because it has been achieved while the Kingdom undergoes fundamental structural transformation — most countries that improve their competitiveness rankings do so during periods of economic stability rather than during periods of revolutionary reform.

The improvement is broad-based across the four pillars that constitute the IMD assessment. Government Efficiency has seen the largest gains, reflecting the dramatic improvement in e-government services (UN EGDI rank of 6th globally), regulatory reform, fiscal policy credibility, and institutional governance improvements. The introduction of VAT, the establishment of new regulatory agencies, and the publication of comprehensive government data have all contributed. Economic Performance has benefited from strong GDP growth, rising productivity, and the diversification of the economic base. The Kingdom’s resilience during the pandemic and subsequent recovery strengthened this dimension.

Business Efficiency gains reflect improvements in the labour market (declining unemployment, growing female participation), financial sector development (expanded credit, deeper capital markets), and the growth of a more entrepreneurial business culture (rising SME formation). The management practices dimension has improved as international firms establish regional headquarters in Riyadh, bringing global management standards. Infrastructure improvements encompass both physical infrastructure (transport, utilities, telecommunications) and technological infrastructure (broadband penetration, digital services, ICT investment). The areas where Saudi Arabia still trails the top 10 — education system quality, health infrastructure per capita, and certain innovation metrics — are precisely the domains where Vision 2030 investments are most concentrated, suggesting further improvement is likely.

Methodology

The IMD World Competitiveness Ranking is published annually by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland. It assesses 67 economies across 336 competitiveness criteria, organised into four pillars: Economic Performance (domestic economy, international trade, international investment, employment, prices), Government Efficiency (public finance, tax policy, institutional framework, business legislation, societal framework), Business Efficiency (productivity, labour market, finance, management practices, attitudes and values), and Infrastructure (basic, technological, scientific, health and environment, education). Approximately two-thirds of data comes from hard statistics from international and national sources, and one-third from the Executive Opinion Survey of approximately 6,500 business executives worldwide. Saudi Arabia’s sample typically includes over 100 executive respondents.

Related Priorities

Competitiveness rankings serve as a composite scorecard for Vision 2030’s economic and institutional reforms. The ranking incorporates dimensions tracked by individual KPIs: e-government performance (UN EGDI Rank), investment attraction (Inbound FDI), economic growth (Real GDP Growth), labour market performance (Unemployment Rate), fiscal management (Credit Ratings), and business environment quality. The National Competitiveness Centre (NCC), established under the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, coordinates cross-government efforts to improve competitiveness metrics. The ranking also influences foreign investor perceptions and is referenced by multinational companies evaluating Saudi Arabia as a regional headquarters or investment destination.

Outlook

Saudi Arabia’s target of reaching the top 10 globally requires advancing approximately six positions from the current 16th, which means surpassing established competitive economies including several European nations, East Asian economies, and potentially the United States or other large economies. The gap to the top 10 is narrowing, and the momentum is strong — the Kingdom gained 8 positions between 2022 and 2024 alone.

The pathway to top-10 status depends on continued improvement in the domains where Saudi Arabia currently scores below the leaders: educational quality and skills development, innovation ecosystem maturity, health infrastructure per capita, and environmental sustainability metrics. These are precisely the areas where Vision 2030 investments are heaviest, suggesting a delayed payoff effect that could materialise in the 2026-2030 period. The Vanderbilt Portfolio projects a ranking of 10th to 15th by 2030, with a top-10 placement possible but dependent on the pace of improvement in education and innovation metrics relative to competitors.