By Felix Richter – Statista
Social cohesion, adaptability and agility are qualities the U.S., with its deeply divided political landscape, its federal system and slow-moving legislative process, currently lacks, which partly explains the U.S. economy’s gradual decline from the top of IMD’s annual ranking. Having held the top position uninterrupted from 1997 to 2009 and not fallen out of the top 3 until 2017, the world’s largest economy dropped out of the top 10 for the first time this year, dropping from 9th to 12th place. While that may sound bad considering the United States’ status in the world, it still makes the U.S. the highest-ranked among the world’s largest economies with China and Canada the only other top 10 economies (in terms of nominal GDP) to make the top 20 in the 2024 Competitiveness Ranking.