Kenya’s landmark entry into the IMD world competitiveness ranking 2025 as Africa’s top performer at 56th globally

Kenya has been admitted for the first time into the Institute for Management Development (IMD) World Competitiveness Ranking 2025, emerging as the most competitive economy in Africa and placed 56th globally. The inclusion, which comes as IMD expanded its list of participating economies to 69 with the addition of Kenya, Namibia and Oman, highlights progress in Kenya’s domestic economy, trade performance and institutional strength. It also points to remaining challenges in innovation systems, scientific infrastructure and social services.

IMD’s World Competitiveness Yearbook evaluates countries across four main pillars: Economic Performance, Government Efficiency, Business Efficiency and Infrastructure. The 2025 edition uses 262 criteria to compile each country’s competitiveness score and global ranking.

IMD 2025 methodology

The IMD World Competitiveness Ranking relies on a combined approach that integrates hard statistical data with executive perception surveys to assess how effectively economies support competitive business environments. The analysis is organised around four major pillars: Economic Performance, Government Efficiency, Business Efficiency and Infrastructure. Each pillar contains detailed indicators covering economic stability, trade flows, public finance, taxation, institutional quality, labour markets, productivity levels, technological and scientific capacity, education systems, public health and environmental standards. For the 2025 ranking, IMD used 262 different criteria, two thirds of which came from verified quantitative data produced by international and national sources, while one third came from a global survey of more than 6,000 senior executives who evaluated the business climate and policy effectiveness in their respective countries. All indicators were standardised and aggregated to produce pillar scores, which were then combined to generate the final competitiveness ranking. This approach ensures that the index reflects both measurable economic outputs and real-time sentiment from key business leaders.

What Kenya’s rank means

Kenya’s appearance in the IMD index as Africa’s top-ranked economy is both an achievement and a strategic positioning milestone. It reflects improvements in macroeconomic management, regulatory reforms and investor confidence. The ranking places Kenya more firmly in view for global investors, multinational companies and institutions seeking competitive markets on the continent.

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The findings also highlight the need for greater investment in research and development, digital and physical infrastructure, innovation ecosystems and human capital. The ranking serves not only as validation of Kenya’s progress but also as a guide for policy areas requiring sustained focus.

IMD world competitiveness ranking 2025-Full list (1 to 69)

1. Switzerland

2. Singapore

3. Hong Kong SAR

4. Denmark

5. United Arab Emirates

6. Taiwan (Chinese Taipei)

7. Ireland

8. Sweden

9. Qatar

10. Netherlands

11. Canada

12. Norway

13. United States

14. Finland

15. Iceland

16. China

17. Saudi Arabia

18. Australia

19. Germany

20. Luxembourg

21. Lithuania

22. Bahrain

23. Malaysia

24. Belgium

25. Czech Republic

26. Austria

27. South Korea

28. Oman

29. United Kingdom

30. Thailand

31. New Zealand

32. France

33. Estonia

34. Kazakhstan

35. Japan

36. Kuwait

37. Portugal

38. Latvia

39. Spain

40. Indonesia

41. India

42. Chile

43. Italy

44. Cyprus

45. Puerto Rico

46. Slovenia

47. Jordan

48. Hungary

49. Romania

50. Greece

51. Philippines

52. Poland

53. Croatia

54. Colombia

55. Mexico

56. Kenya

57. Bulgaria

58. Brazil

59. Botswana

60. Peru

61. Ghana

62. Argentina

63. Slovak Republic

64. South Africa

65. Mongolia

66. Türkiye

67. Nigeria

68. Namibia

69. Venezuela

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