A European business school says the US remains the world's most competitive nation, with Asia's two main financial centres close behind.

A ranking of countries’ competitiveness by the IMD business school has found that the US retains its top billing, with Hong Kong and Singapore moving up to overtake Switzerland, now in fourth place.

Other country listings include: Canada (5), Norway (7), Denmark (8), Sweden (9) and Germany (10). All of these remain in the top 10 from the previous list. Meanwhile, Luxembourg moves into the top 10, in the sixth spot, from 11th place in 2014.

Results for Asia are mixed. Malaysia (12 to 14), Japan (21 to 27), Thailand (29 to 30) and Indonesia (37 to 42) move down. Taiwan (13 to 11), Republic of Korea (26 to 25) and the Philippines (42 to 41) slightly rise in the ranking. Most Asian economies in decline have seen a drop in their domestic economies and are impacted by weakening or aging infrastructure, the Swiss-based business school said in its annual measure of competitiveness this week. The USA remains at the top of the ranking as a result of its strong business efficiency and financial sector, its innovation drive and the effectiveness of its infrastructure, the report said.

The report may raise some eyebrows: the US, for example, has a corporation tax rate of up to 40 per cent (source: KPMG), nearly double the average rate of OECD member states. The high level of such tax has been cited as a reason why US-headquartered multinationals sometimes domicile important parts of their business offshore in countries such as Luxembourg.

Eastern Europe experiences a mixture of results as well. Poland (36 to 33), the Czech Republic (33 to 29) and Slovenia (55 to 49) move up in the ranking. In the Baltic States, Estonia (30 to 31) and Latvia (35 to 43) rank lower than last year; although, Lithuania gains in the ranking (34 to 28). Elsewhere in the region, current events in Russia (38 to 45) and Ukraine (49 to 60) highlight the negative impact that armed conflict and the accompanying higher market volatility have on competitiveness in an increasingly interconnected international economy.

A pattern of decline is observed in Latin America. Chile moves from 31 to 35, Peru from 50 to 54, Argentina from 58 to 59 and Venezuela remains at the bottom of the table. Colombia stays at 51.

Among large emerging economies, Brazil (54 to 56) and South Africa (52 to 53) slightly drop, China (23 to 22) and Mexico (41 to 39) experience improvements while India remains in the same spot (44). This trend shows the difficulty in grouping emerging markets in one category, as the issues impacting their competitiveness differ. China's slight increase stems from improvements in education and public expenditure, whereas Brazil suffers from a drop in domestic economy and less optimistic executive opinions.