During the previous year, Russia rose by five points in the rating of global competitiveness of the World Economic Forum (WEF). Russia now takes the 38th place out of 137 countries. From 2012, Russia’s position within the rating has improved by 29 points. The leading BRICS-member on the global competitiveness list is still China, which takes the 27th place on the list.

Russia’s competitiveness is highly valued in such categories as “market size” (the sixth place in the world). However, other criteria still make it problematic for Russia to rise to the top position. For example, in terms of higher education and vocational training, Russia has taken the 32nd place. Infrastructure development placed the country at the 35th place. The country took the 49th place in terms of innovative potential and the 57th place in technology. Russia was in the 60th position in terms of labor market efficiency.

The top country in the rating was Switzerland, winning the first place for the ninth year in a row. Others in the top 10 included the U.S., Singapore, the Netherlands, Germany, Hong Kong, Sweden, Great Britain, Japan, and Finland.

“Global competitiveness will be more and more defined by the innovative capacity of a country. Talents will become increasingly more important than capital and therefore the world is moving from the age of capitalism into the age of ‘talentism.’ Countries preparing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and simultaneously strengthening their political, economic, and social systems will be the winners in the competitive race of the future,” said Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum.