Lisbon, Sept. 19, 2024 (Lusa) - Portugal has maintained its  25th place in the IMD Competitiveness Centre 2024 world talent ranking, which evaluates 67 countries, it was announced on Thursday.

According to the Institute for Management Development (‘IMD’), Portugal's position worsened in indicators such as "Investment and Development", from 27th to 29th place, as well as in "Attractiveness", from 37th to 45th place.

"Preparedness" improved, rising six places to 21st. In this category, indicators such as language skills and management education are assessed (where Portugal stands out positively), as well as international experience (where it compares worse).

Portugal's main strengths in this ranking also include the female labour force (49% of the total), the pupil to teacher ratio in secondary education and exposure to particulate pollution.

On the other hand, the IMD identified Portugal's main shortcomings as the training of workers, the administration of justice and the "brain drain", i.e. the emigration of qualified workers.

The 2024 world talent ranking is led by Switzerland, followed by Singapore (which moved up six places) and Luxembourg (which moved down one). At the top of the index are the Nordic countries, with Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Norway occupying the next positions.

This was the 11th edition of this list, which measured 67 countries and combined data from inquiries by the IMD's World Competitiveness Centre (WCC) with external sources, "placing both in the context of the conclusions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO)", they explained in a statement.

In carrying out this analysis, the IMD also concluded that "the replacement of human labour by Artificial Intelligence could exacerbate exclusion in some major economies".

"The socio-economic implications of AI in the workplace", also exposed rising inequality for higher-income economies as the early adoption of AI begins to replace the labour force,’ the institute points out.

MES/AYLS // AYLS

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