The latest edition of the Global Competitiveness Report reveals that New Zealand, at 17th place, has achieved its best ranking since 2004, and an improvement on its 2013 rank by one place.

The report, released annually by the World Economic Forum, provides an overview of the competitiveness of 144 countries. It gives a detailed profile on each country using both survey results and statistical data.

It is the most comprehensive international assessment of national competitiveness, providing invaluable insights into what drives a country’s productivity and prosperity. The report evaluates 12 broad pillars of competitiveness, assembled into three aggregate competitiveness categories; “basic requirements” (NZ 12th), “efficiency enhancers” (NZ 14th) and “innovation and sophistication” (NZ 27th).

Certainly some measures – such as the country's capacity to retain talent (52nd), total tax rate as a percentage of profits (55th), hiring and firing practices (58th) and the business impact of our restrictive FDI rules (56th) – suggest problems worthy of attention. Low ranks for some other measures, such as our global ranking for exports (103rd) and imports (121st) as a percentage of GDP, may or may not be so indicative of a problem.

But overall, given that we rank first in 14, and in the top 10 for 32 of the total 119 measures, there is much we can be proud of about little New Zealand.

Among these commendable achievements, New Zealand has displaced economic superpower Singapore, to gain the top spot for the having the world’s best institutional framework. New Zealand is also recognised as being top in the world for judicial independence, ethical behaviour of firms, and the lowest annual percentage inflation change for 2013-2014. Furthermore, along with Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia, New Zealand is one of six economies in the Asia-Pacific featured in the top 20 most competitive economies in the world.

The report itself is upbeat. It considers that while global financial reforms have not yet been completed, global banking systems already appear more robust and access to credit is improving. Growth prospects in many advanced countries, while asymmetrically distributed, are better than they have been in years, according to the data compiled.

Espen Barth Eide, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum, proclaimed that this latest report is “being launched at a time when the global economy seems to be finally leaving behind the worst and longest lasting financial and economic crisis of the last 80 years”.

While we cannot afford complacency, New Zealand is well placed coming out of the recovery.