Saudi Arabia climbs to 13th in global competitiveness rankings
The Kingdom’s economic transformation continues to gain recognition on the world stage
Saudi Arabia has moved up four places in the latest IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2026, securing 13th place globally and ranking third among G20 economies.
Published annually by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), the report assesses the competitiveness of 70 economies across a wide range of economic and business indicators.
The latest results place Saudi Arabia behind only the United States and China among G20 nations.
The Kingdom recorded improvements across all four pillars assessed by the yearbook: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure. It also improved its standing in 15 of the 20 measured sub-categories.
According to the report, some of the strongest gains were recorded in areas such as international trade, employment, and business legislation.
Saudi Arabia’s economic performance and government efficiency rankings both rose from 17th to 12th place globally. Business efficiency climbed from 12th to ninth, while infrastructure improved from 31st to 28th.
The Kingdom also achieved several notable global rankings. It ranked first worldwide in growth of commercial services exports, terms of trade, banking and financial services, cybersecurity, and internet users per thousand population.
Other areas of strong performance included social cohesion, early-stage entrepreneurial activity, public-private partnerships supporting technological development, and understanding the need for economic and social reforms, in which Saudi Arabia ranked second globally.
المملكة العربية السعودية قفزت للمركز الـ13 عالمياً (الـ3 خليجياً وفي مجموعة العشرين) في تصنيف التنافسية العالمي IMD لعام 2026 – أكبر تقدم لنا على الإطلاق! من الاقتصاد إلى البنية التحتية.. بنلمع أكثر كل سنة. استمروا بالصعود! 🇸🇦
.
.#رؤية_2030 #السعودية_التنافسية #IMD2026… pic.twitter.com/v5u3q1NJMP— Ameerah Al-Harbi (@Rea_lAmeerah) June 22, 2026
Several additional indicators placed the Kingdom third worldwide, including government adaptability to economic change, public finance, transparency of government policy, support for business creation, regulatory compliance in banking, and electricity costs for industrial users.
Overall, Saudi Arabia ranked among the world’s top 10 in 74 of the 262 criteria assessed by IMD.
Minister of Commerce and Chairman of the Saudi Competitiveness and Business Centre, Majid Al-Kassabi, said the result reflects the Kingdom’s continued efforts to advance Saudi Vision 2030’s goals, particularly in areas linked to economic growth, competitiveness and long-term development.
The report also highlighted Saudi Arabia’s appeal as a place to do business, citing policy stability, access to finance, strong infrastructure, corporate governance standards, and an increasingly business-friendly environment.
Images: Unsplash / SPA
