In many people’s minds, Switzerland has a reputation of a country set in its ways, where things are slow to change.
In some ways, this is true, but in many others, this is more of a myth than reality.
For the second time this year, the country has been named as the world’s leader in competitiveness. Why is that?
Here’s what the newest study found
The Competitiveness Report 2025, by the Eight Competitiveness Lab international think tank, analysed 58 countries across the four pillars of Economics, Society, Education and Sustainability.
"Competitiveness today is no longer about size or growth at all costs," said Pascal Raidron, President of Eight International. “The most successful nations balance economics, society, education, and sustainability, and this balance is the ultimate competitive advantage.”
In a report it published on October 27th, the organisation found that “Switzerland ranks at the top globally, driven by its strong education system and societal foundations, while also maintaining impressive economic resilience and high sustainability performance.”
It is followed, from the 2nd to 6th place, by the Scandinavian nations. Switzerland's immediate neighbours, however, got much lower scores: Germany is in 10th place, Austria in 13th, France in 17th, and Italy 30th.
Where is Switzerland doing well and where is it lagging behind?
Being number 1 doesn’t, however, mean excelling in all the categories.
Switzerland got high scores (1st place) in the Economics and Education categories, but is the 4th place for Sustainability and in the 8th for Society.
Still, with a total score of 0.784, it outperformed the 57 other countries (Sweden, in 2nd place, had a score of 0.738).
Why are the scores for Sustainability and Society lower than for Economics and Education?
That’s because Sustainability includes the Carbon Emission sub-category, where Switzerland still needs to make major strides forward, placing 18th.
As for Society, Switzerland is number one in terms of Life Expectancy and Human Freedom Index.
READ ALSO: Why living in Switzerland means you'll (probably) have a longer life
However, the analysis also takes into account the ‘darker’ side of living on Switzerland ‒ namely, the Gender Pay Gap, where the country placed 14th.
What did the previous competitiveness study find?
This is the second study this year to place Switzerland top for competitiveness. The previous one, World Competitiveness Ranking, was carried out by the IMD Institute and published in June 2025. It assessed 69 countries.
However, its criteria were different from the most current study.
The country scored highest (1st place) in the Government Efficiency category as well as Infrastructure but, contrary to the Eight Competitiveness Lab analysis, it was 13th in terms of Economic Performance and 6th in Business Efficiency.
What else does Switzerland do better than other countries?
You might think the answer to that question is 'cheese and chocolate', but the French and Belgians might disagree.
Switzerland has come top in a number of other rankings this year.
This may also come as a shock to all those who insist Switzerland is not really a dynamic country, but in 2025 it has nevertheless been named, for the fifth consecutive year, as the world’s ‘Most Innovative Economy’ among 139 nations analysed by the United Nations’ World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
The categories that were included in the ranking are investment in Science and Research, Technological Progress and Adoption, as well as the Socioeconomic Impact of all of the above.
And to top it all off, the US News & Word Report publication has also named Switzerland as ‘The Best Country in the World.”
The publication gave high scores to the country’s quality of life, attractiveness as a business destination for international companies, as well as social purpose – including human rights, the environment, and religious freedom.
However, in other categories, the grass is not necessarily greener in Switzerland.
Concretely, the ‘power’ category – defined as countries that “consistently dominate news headlines, preoccupy policymakers and shape global economic patterns ranked particularly low,” where Switzerland placed 20th (and the US placed first).
But that is not necessarily a downside.
That’s because Switzerland seeks no global power or influence over world affairs and, as a neutral country, aims to keep its politics contained within its own borders.
- READ ALSO: How does the Swiss political system work?
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