Australia's global competitiveness ranking has dropped out of the top 20 for the first time in over two decades, partly undermined by poor government efficiency readings.
It was ranked 17th last year in the Swiss-based I-M-D World Competitiveness Yearbook - which assesses 63 countries - after being 16th in 2013.
The 2017 edition again ranks Hong Kong first, followed by Switzerland - while Singapore and the United States dropped out of the top three, to fourth.
The chairman of the national research group - the Committee for Economic Development of Australia - Rod Maddock says Australia last received this low a rank in 1996, when it was placed 21st.
He says issues such as energy infrastructure, the corporate tax rate and how to skill Australia's workforce to take advantage of digital disruption are areas where Australia performed poorly.
