South Korea has climbed in the worldwide ranks of national competitiveness.

According to the 2011 World Competitiveness Yearbook, the nation ranked 22nd out of 59 countries. South Korea sat at 27th in 2009 and 23rd last year.

The United States and Hong Kong tied for first place and Singapore came in third. Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Canada, Qatar, Australia and Germany also made the top-ten list.

The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook is compiled by the Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD) and was first published in 1989.

The yearbook ranks countries’ national competitiveness based on official statistics released by the countries and on surveys conducted on businesspeople in the private sector.