The Philippines dropped 10 notches to 57th place out of 138 economies in the newly-released Global Competitiveness Index for 2016 to 2017.
The report showed that of the 12 pillars of global competitiveness, the Philippines ranked 99th in good market efficiency, 95th in infrastructure and 91st in institutions.
The country kept stable its sub-index at 4.4 percent, but other economies surpassed the Philippines’ growth, the reason it dropped down the list, according to the report.
The report also identified the most problematic factors for doing business in the country, including inefficient government bureaucracy; inadequate supply of infrastructure; corruption; tax rates; tax regulations; political instability; and restrictive government regulations, among others.
The World Economic Forum said in a statement the competitiveness gap in East Asia and Pacific was widening.
It said while 13 of the 15 economies covered consecutively since 2007 were able to improve their score over the past decade, this year saw reversals for some of the larger emerging markets in the region. Malaysia drops out of the top 20, falling seven places to 25 while Thailand fell two to 34. Indonesia slid four places to 41 while the Philippines dropped ten to 57.