Assessment and comparison of international competitiveness of countries

Abstract

The paper reveals the specific features of determination of the countries’ international competitiveness of in world rankings and evaluates the results of their ranking. An assessment of the rankings of the international competitiveness of countries for the period from 2005 to 2019 was carried out. It made possible to determine that they have comparable results, reflecting the existing and prospective potential of national economies. It is determined that the EU, as a significant integration formation in the world economy, strengthens the positions in the world market of both its leading participants and independent economies, which are guided by it as the largest regional market in the world; on the other hand, the EU member states that are medium and weak in terms of economic development have not strengthened their own positions in the rankings, which leaves the question of finding ways of their further growth relevant.
A cluster analysis was carried out for various sets of indicators, which showed a stable map of the distribution of countries in five clusters, which are determined by the degree of their economic development. it was determined during combining two rankings of international competitiveness of countries, that they reflect a close relationship between countries (geographical similarity) and economic strategies (falling into one segment within a cluster, for example, oil exporting countries; city-countries; small island countries; countries with largest economies in the world; Scandinavian countries; Baltic countries). Based on the results of cluster analysis, the coincidence of the distribution of countries by territorial and economic similarity was determined, the essence of which is that neighboring countries have similar geographical conditions and implement strategies of economic development, focusing on each other, that is, the territorial factor is important in the formation of countries’ international competitiveness. The second factor of similarity is the strategies of countries’ economic development.