Jeddah — Saudi Arabia ranked 7th worldwide in the “efficiency of government spending” index, according to one of the sub-reports of the Global Competitiveness Report 2017-2018 issued by the World Economic Forum.

Saudi Arabia preceded countries such as the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Japan, China, India, France, Russia and other advanced and major countries.

Saudi Arabia advanced five positions between 2016 and 2017 (12th place), ranking seventh in 2018.

The report covers the economies of 136 countries classified through 114 indicators listed in 12 main axes: infrastructure, education, health, innovative Labor market efficiency and others.

Saudi Arabia’s rank among the top 10 countries in the “efficiency of government spending” index reflects the vision of the Saudi government to raise the efficiency of spending to serve the vital sectors in the Kingdom and the supervision in achieving the objectives of the Saudi Vision 2030.

Under the index, Saudi Arabia scored 5.5 points out of 7 (the highest efficiency rank), after the United Arab Emirates which scored 6.2, Singapore which scored 6.1, the United States which scored 5.9 and Germany which scored 5.4.

In the same index, Saudi Arabia topped New Zealand which scored 5.3, Switzerland which scored 5.3 and Luxembourg which scored 5.0.

WEF’s Global Competitiveness Report is one of the most prominent global reports that annually monitor the performance and competitiveness of world economies in terms of strengths and weaknesses and their impact on their population’s standard of living, prosperity and well-being.

The report has been issued since 1971, with the goal of supporting countries in identifying the problems facing sustainable economic growth and developing strategies for poverty reduction and prosperity, and is one of the reports that provides a comprehensive assessment of the strengths and challenges of the economies of countries. — Agencies