Greece remained in 50th place in the 2026 IMD World Competitiveness Ranking, according to the latest World Competitiveness Yearbook released by the International Institute for Management Development and presented in Greece by the Federation of Industries of Greece, the country’s national representative for the IMD.
The result places Greece at the same level as in 2025, though the country has slipped three positions compared with 2024. From 2022 to 2026, Greece has stayed within a tight band between 47th and 50th place, reflecting a broader picture of competitiveness that has changed little over time.
Within the 27 European Union countries included in the survey, however, Greece improved by one place. It ranked 21st among EU member states in 2026, compared with 22nd in 2025.
How IMD measures global competitiveness
The IMD ranking evaluates 70 economies based on their ability to create and sustain an environment that supports business competitiveness.
The assessment uses 262 criteria. Of these, 170 are statistical indicators, while 92 are qualitative criteria drawn from a survey of senior and top-level business executives.
The overall ranking is based on four main pillars: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure.
Mixed results for Greece in competitiveness ranking
Greece showed a slight improvement in economic performance, rising two places to 51st from 53rd in the ranking.
The picture was weaker in government efficiency, where the country dropped six places, from 53rd to 59th. Business efficiency remained unchanged at 53rd place.
Infrastructure also declined, with Greece falling from 40th to 44th place. This marks the country’s weakest infrastructure performance in the past five years.
Tourism and export concentration stand out
Among Greece’s strongest indicators are export concentration, where the country ranks 2nd globally, and tourism receipts as a percentage of GDP, where it ranks 8th.
In the area of government efficiency, Greece scores highly on the indicator measuring whether the government was elected through free elections, ranking 1st. It also performs strongly in the general government budget balance as a percentage of GDP, where it ranks 9th.
Debt and unemployment remain key weaknesses
Despite these strengths, the ranking highlights several persistent weaknesses in the Greek economy.
Greece ranks 65th in the current account balance, 64th in unemployment, and 67th in general government debt as a percentage of GDP. It also ranks 60th in effective tax rates.
In business efficiency, Greece performs well in long-term labor force growth and industrial wage levels. However, it continues to lag in the effective supervision of corporate boards and in apprenticeship programs.
Education ratios boost infrastructure score
Greece’s infrastructure performance was supported by strong education metrics, including its 1st-place ranking in the pupil-teacher ratio in primary education and 2nd place in the student-teacher ratio in secondary education.
However, the country performs poorly in knowledge transfer between companies and universities. It also ranks 62nd in population growth, underlining another structural challenge for long-term competitiveness.
Singapore leads the Global competitiveness ranking
Singapore topped the 2026 IMD World Competitiveness Ranking, followed by Hong Kong and Switzerland.
The rest of the top ten includes Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States.
Nine of the top ten economies are relatively small, a finding that underscores one of the key conclusions of the ranking: competitiveness is not determined by economic size alone.
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