Switzerland has come top for the first time in the 33-year history of IMD’s World Competitiveness Ranking, in a year that reflected the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on economic competitiveness. Sweden came second (up from 6th last year) with Denmark in third spot (2nd in 2020) in a shakeup that saw European economies weather the health crisis better than most other regions. Completing the top five were the Netherlands (also 4th last year) followed by Singapore. Singapore took a tumble from the number one spot it had held for the previous two years. China comes 16th, up from 20th last year. The IMD World Competitiveness Ranking ranks 64 economies and assesses the extent to which a country promotes the prosperity of its people by measuring economic well-being through hard data and survey responses from executives. This year the rankings expose the economic impact of the pandemic across the globe. The report finds that qualities such as investment in innovation, digitalization, welfare benefits and leadership resulting in social cohesion have helped economies better weather the crisis, allowing them to rank higher in competitiveness.