Australia is continuing to lose its competitive edge in the global economy, strangled by government red tape.
Australia dropped one place in the latest World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Index to 22nd, continuing a downward trend since 2009/10 when it was ranked 15th.
Australia Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said more of Australia's competitors were "leap-frogging" the local economy.
The most telling result was the burden of government regulation, which had now tumbled to 124th from 60th in 2010/11, he said.
The report reinforces calls from the business community for greater urgency to be injected into building domestic productivity and competitiveness.
That was particularly the case with industrial relations with restrictive labour regulations identified as the most significant impediment to doing business in Australia, Mr Willox said.
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS INDEX 2014/15
Rank (previous)
1 (1) Switzerland
2 (2) Singapore
3 (5) United States
4 (3) Finland
5 (4) Germany
17 (18) New Zealand
22 (21) Australia
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