The strong performance of Hong Kong, Sweden, Switzerland and the US in an index of the world’s most competitive economies calls into question the value of austerity measures in an economy.

This is according to Professor Stéphane Garelli, director of the World Competitiveness Center within business school IMD, which produces the annual Global Competitiveness Rankings, which are based on over 300 criteria, weighted two-thirds on hard statistics and one third on business executives’ opinion survey.

The US has taken the top spot in the competitiveness rankings, with Switzerland in second place – both markets jumping one place year-on-year, leapfrogging Hong Kong which dropped from first to third. Sweden, in fourth, swaps places with Singapore, while Canada in seventh and the UAE in eighth, rising eight places, meaning the top Eurozone economy is Germany, which remains ninth.

The UK holds its place at 18, while Ireland is up three places to 20. Brazil, the subject of the Global Spotlight in the upcoming June edition of Recruiter, out in a fortnight, is 46th.

Of the 20 countries losing five or more places in the rankings since 1997’s inaugural index, 12 are European, and nine have the Euro as their currency.