NL Makes Top-5 in 2012-2013 World Competiveness Report

The Netherlands continues to progress in the rankings, moving up to 5th place this year (7th last year). The improvement reflects a continued strengthening of its innovative capacity as well as the heightened efficiency and stability of its financial markets according to the report.

Overall, Dutch businesses are highly sophisticated (4th) and innovative (9th), and the country is rapidly and aggressively harnessing new technologies for productivity improvements (9th). Its excellent educational system (ranked 5th for health and primary education and 6th for its higher education and training) and efficient markets—especially its goods market (6th)—are highly supportive of business activity. And although the country has registered fiscal deficits in recent years (5.0 percent of GDP in 2011), its macroeconomic environment is more stable than that of a number of other advanced economies. Last but not least, the quality of its infrastructure is among the best in the world, reflecting excellent facilities for maritime, air, and railroad transport, ranked 1st, 4th, and 9th, respectively.

Here's a link to WEF website where you can access the full report: http://www.weforum.org/issues/global-competitiveness