LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The Philippines has climbed one spot higher in global competitiveness but despite the good score, the country still ranks among the lowest in the Asia-Pacific region.

This is according to this year’s edition of the World Competitiveness Ranking released by the Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD), which showed improvements in the country's strong economic performance while still being among the worst performers among several Asia-Pacific countries.

The IMD’s 2025 World Competitiveness Yearbook disclosed that the Philippines improved its ranking to 51st out of 69 economies, up from 52nd out of 67 economies the previous year. However, it continues to lag behind others, retaining its 13th rank out of 14 spots.

Measuring each economy’s competitiveness using some 262 indicators across four key factors: economic performance, government measures each economy’s competitiveness using 262 indicators, the IMD revealed that out of the five economies in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region included in the ranking, the Philippines ranked last.

The indicators used for the ranking spread cross four key factors: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure, business efficiency and infrastructure, This year’s ranking is based on 170 indicators derived from statistical data, while the remaining 93 indicators are perception-based, drawn from a survey of mid- and upper-level managers in each country covered.