Enlarge image Michael Hüther, director of the Cologne-based economic institute (© picture alliance / ZB) According to the Cologne Institute for Economic Research (IW), which released its study on Monday in Berlin, Germany currently ranks fifth in worldwide global competitiveness after being ranked 14th back in 1995.

“Germany has not neglected its industry; in fact it has taken it seriously,” Michael Hüther, the director of the research institute, told the news agency dapd after a press conference. The country has improved its infrastructure and incentives to innovate, Hüther added. He then said that good opportunities for career training as well as an appropriate regulatory framework were also helping Germany in the standings. The study identified the steady supply of energy and raw materials in Germany as one of the country’s economic strengths, although high labor costs and a relatively high tax burden on companies were among the country’s weaknesses.

The United States remained at the top position, according to the study. Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland were the other countries ahead of Germany in the study’s rankings, which compared 45 nations using 58 indicators.

German Economics Minister Philipp Rösler said on Monday that Germany had been able to overcome the global financial and economic crisis because of its broad and competitive industrial base. “One of the leading tasks of our economic policy is to therefore continue strengthening our international competitiveness,” he said. Rösler added that a reliable, long-term framework was a part of this. “The implementation of the energy transition (away from nuclear power) will do a lot in the next few years to ensure that industrial competitiveness is strengthened and not weakened.”