Switzerland retained top spot as the most competitive economy for a ninth straight year, according the Global Competitiveness Index of the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2017-2018.

Three Asian economies, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan, ranked in the top 10 of the study, which covered 137 economies. South Korea ranked 26th and China inched up one place to 27th.

The 12 categories looked at in the report are institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labor market efficiency, financial market development, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication, and innovation.