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A report published this week places Switzerland fourth on a list of countries best positioned to make an economic rebound after the coronavirus downturn.
The analysis looks at overall health resilience, pre-existing structural strengths and weaknesses in 122 countries.
The top four nations are Finland, Norway, Germany and Switzerland. These countries combine world class governance with high levels of social capital and high social resilience. They also have strong financial systems, manageable debt levels and good health system resilience.
According to the report, nations with pre-existing economic and sociopolitical weaknesses will experience the weakest recoveries as the Covid-19 crisis exacerbates their underlying problems.
The best performing countries generally have adaptable workforces, highly digitised economies, strong governance and social capital and well-functioning financial systems.
Economies with strong financial systems in place were able to rapidly distribute financial support. Companies in countries with strong digital capacity were able to continue operating, retain their workforce and reduce economic fallout. While countries with higher levels of trust and social capital were able to implement measures faster and more effectively.
Switzerland benefits from a solid labour market performance (11th) and the highest level of economic resilience in the world (1st). The latter results from a winning combination of excellent performance in the digital economy (10th), education and skills (3rd), governance and social capital (4th) and labour market agility (1st). Its strong health system capacity (3rd) and pandemic preparedness (11th) help balance its population health risk factors (33rd).
Switzerland’s weaknesses lie mainly in its absorption capacity due to its high exposure to vulnerable sectors and high dependence on international markets. However, the strong international linkages will be an asset for the recovery process as the country’s main trade partners are expected to recover well from the crisis.
The top-ranked 20 nations are:
1 Finland
2 Norway
3 Germany
4 Switzerland
5 Australia
6 Netherlands
7 United States
8 Denmark
9 Iceland
10 Sweden
11 Canada
12 United Kingdom
13 Austria
14 New Zealand
15 Slovenia
16 Estonia
17 Korea, Rep. of
18 France
19 Japan
20 Latvia
China (32nd) leads among the large emerging markets. Russia (36th), Brazil (51st), India (63rd), and South Africa (77th) are further down the list.
There were wide differences both in countries’ pre-crisis economic and socio-political situations and in the stringency and duration of containment measures and their impact on industries and jobs. Given those differences, the way countries are affected by the crisis and the pace of their subsequent recovery are unlikely to be symmetric and certainly not simultaneous, wrote the authors.
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