The nation's global competitiveness has slid 11 notches over the past year to rank 29th in the world. The ranking was the lowest among major Asian economies.

According to this year's Global Competitiveness Report released by the World Economic Forum, South Korea's ranking lagged far behind that of Taiwan and other major rival economies.

Taiwan placed fourth followed by Singapore in sixth, Japan in ninth and Hong Kong in 21st.

The Switzerland-based World Economic Forum cited Seoul's gloomy economic outlook and a decline in its credit rating as major reasons behind the sharp drop in South Korea's ranking.

The report also showed that South Korea's ranking for public agencies' competitiveness slipped from 36th to 41st while competitiveness in technology also witnessed a decrease to 9th place from 6th last year.

South Korea also came in 92nd in terms of labor-management cooperation and 85th in relation to confidence towards politicians.

Finland topped the global competitiveness list for the second straight year, followed by the United States and Sweden.