Malaysia has improved its position in the World Competitiveness Ranking 2026, rising to 15th place globally from 23rd position in 2025, reflecting stronger economic performance and improvements in several competitiveness indicators.
The latest ranking showed Malaysia recorded its strongest performance in Economic Performance, ranking 4th globally with a score of 78.4.
The country also improved in Government Efficiency, moving up to 14th position with a score of 71.6, while Business Efficiency ranked 16th with a score of 75.4.
However, Malaysia’s Infrastructure ranking remained a key area requiring improvement, placing 33rd globally with a score of 59.8.
The ranking highlighted Malaysia’s steady upward trajectory in recent years, improving from 32nd place in 2022 to 27th in 2023, 34th in 2024, before rising significantly to 23rd in 2025 and 15th in 2026.
Among the key competitiveness components, Malaysia performed strongly in several areas.
The country ranked 5th in International Trade with a score of 62.4, improving by one position from the previous year. It also ranked 19th in International Investment, improving by seven places.
Malaysia recorded a 10th-place ranking in Employment with a score of 63.9, while Prices remained among its strongest indicators, ranking second globally with a score of 67.9 despite slipping one position.
The Domestic Economy category ranked 11th with a score of 57.9, improving by four places.
The report highlighted several challenges that Malaysia needs to address to sustain its competitiveness.
These include advancing a more seamless and coordinated regulatory environment to improve business efficiency, accelerating digital transformation and artificial intelligence (AI) readiness across industries, developing a future-ready workforce through continuous upskilling and reskilling, and strengthening operational resilience and value chain integration.
Malaysia’s economic fundamentals remained supportive, with real GDP growth recorded at 5.2%, ranking ninth globally.
Singapore rose to top spot beating Hong Kong which fell to number 2, with Switzerland, Taiwan and UAE coming in at third, fourth and fifth.
